Trump blasts Putin for ‘stringing him along’ in fiery rant after historic talks with Zelensky at Pope’s funeral

DONALD Trump has blasted Vladimir Putin for "stringing him along" hours after historic peace talks with Volodymyr Zelensky.

Zelensky and Trump were pictured meeting for the first time since their historic White House spat just before Pope Francis' final farewell.

The impromptu meeting took place inside the holy St Peter's Basilica with the pair both pulling up chairs to have an intense one-on-one conversation.

Despite their frosty exchange at the White House, Ukraine's president Zelensky said it was a "good" 15-minute meeting.

After the funeral, he said: "We discussed a lot one on one. Hoping for results on everything we covered. Protecting lives of our people.

"Full and unconditional ceasefire. Reliable and lasting peace that will prevent another war from breaking out.

"Very symbolic meeting that has potential to become historic, if we achieve joint results."

The White House also described it a "very productive discussion".

Later, Trump posted on Truth Social - taking aim at Putin for "tapping him along".

He said: "There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days.

"It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through 'Banking' or 'Secondary Sanctions?' Too many people are dying!!!"

It comes after Putin's barbaric missile strikes on Kyiv earlier this week that left at least 12 dead.

The US president fumed "this is Sleepy Joe Biden’s War, not mine".

"It was a loser from day one, and should have never happened, and wouldn’t have happened if I were President at the time," he added.

"I’m just trying to clean up the mess that was left to me by Obama and Biden, and what a mess it is."

The US and Ukrainian leaders have vowed to hold further talks in the coming days.

A unique snap also caught the pair having a quick huddle with French President Emmanuel Macron and Sir Keir Starmer.

All of the global leaders were sat near to one another as the touching funeral ceremony took place this morning.

Zelensky and Trump were only separated by 10 people as they both watched on from the front row alongside their wives.

The world was eager to see if the duo would interact after months of back and forth.

Just days ago the US president labelled Zelensky as the key obstacle to a Ukraine peace deal.

The meeting also marks the first time the two leaders have spoken since their infamous Oval Office spat in February.

Trump blasted Zelensky for "gambling with World War Three" before he booted him out of the White House.

The Republican leader has even labelled Zelensky as a dictator in the past.

But at Francis' funeral the presidential pair seemed to put the past behind them for the greater good.

The two were sat alongside hundreds of foreign dignitaries, presidents, prime ministers and even royals in Rome.

Zelensky was even greeted by a round of applause as he took his seat in the square, with the crowds expressing their support for Ukraine.

The funeral service took place shortly after 9am UK time in St Peter's square.

It involved a series of words and hymns before the homily part which was led by the Dean of the College of Cardinals, 91-year-old Giovanni Battista Re.

The end of the mass saw many of the leaders leave Rome and return home - with Trump seen swiftly boarding Air Force One with Melania.

Thousands of mourners stayed to line the streets of the Vatican to watch the Pope's final journey to his resting place.

Francis was then taken inside Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, a church a short distance away in Rome, for a private burial.

It comes as the US continue to try and mediate peace talks between Ukraine and Russia.

On Friday, Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, held three-hour “constructive and very useful” talks with Vladimir Putin.

The talks were hailed as “very useful” by Putin aide Yuri Ushakov, who said they helped “bring Russian and US positions closer together... not just on Ukraine but also on a range of other international issues.”

He added: “Specifically on the Ukrainian crisis, the possibility of resuming direct talks between Russian and Ukrainian representatives was in particular discussed.”

The White House's proposed peace plan would let Russia keep most of the Ukrainian territory it has seized so far, The Telegraph has reported.

This includes Crimea, the peninsula that was illegally annexed by Putin back in 2014 - eight years before the full-scale invasion.

But the plans as reported make no reference to security guarantees for Kyiv.

Zelensky remained defiant on Crimea, warning that Ukraine would never accept territorial concessions in any US-brokered deal.

“Our position is unchanged – only the Ukrainian people have the right to decide which territories are Ukrainian,” he told reporters.

Trump then turned his anger onto Putin after Russia launched a deadly missile assault targeting civilians in Kyiv on Thurday.

It left at least nine dead with children and pregnant women also being rushed to hospital.

Trump condemned the Russian dictator over the massive missile blitz on Kyiv, as he demanded: "Vladimir, STOP!"