Trump met Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ahead of funeral of Pope Francis, White House says

President Trump and Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy met privately ahead of the funeral of Pope Francis and “had a very productive discussion,” the White House said Saturday. The White House said more details of the meeting would be shared later.

Mr. Trump on Saturday was among more than 50 heads of state and other dignitaries attending the funeral of Pope Francis, where he was personally paying his respects to the Roman Catholic leader who pointedly disagreed with him on a variety of issues.

He also briefly met Britain’s Prince William, CBS News partner network BBC News reported.

Trump arrived at the Vatican with his wife, first lady Melania Trump. When Zelenskyy arrived for the ceremony, the gathered crowd broke out in applause.

Mr. Trump told reporters on Friday as he flew to Rome that he was going to the funeral “out of respect” for the pontiff, who died Monday after suffering a stroke at the age of 88.

Francis sharply disagreed with Mr. Trump’s approach on issues including immigration, the treatment of migrants and climate change. The Argentine pontiff and the American president sparred early in their relationship over immigration. In 2016, Francis, alluding to then-candidate Trump and his campaign slogan of “Build the wall,” called anyone who builds a wall to keep out migrants ” not Christian.” Mr. Trump said the comment was “disgraceful.”

But after Francis’ death, the Republican president praised him as a “good man” who “worked hard” and “loved the world.” Mr. Trump also directed that U.S. flags be flown at half-staff in Francis’ honor.

Mr. Trump had said on a couple of occasions before leaving Washington that he would have “a lot” of meetings with counterparts on the sidelines of the funeral. But he seemed to back away from that as he flew to Rome.

“Frankly, it’s a little disrespectful to have meetings when you’re at the funeral of a pope,” the president told reporters accompanying him aboard Air Force One. Nonetheless, Mr. Trump said, “I’ll be talking to people. I’ll be seeing a lot of people.”

Mr. Trump didn’t elaborate when asked if he’d just be meeting leaders in passing or holding more in-depth talks. He suggested he might have meetings at Villa Taverna, the U.S. ambassador’s residence, where he spent the night.

“It’s a little tough because we don’t have much time,” Mr. Trump said, noting his late arrival in Rome. He was scheduled to head back to the United States immediately after the funeral.

“I think that we’re going to try and see a couple of people that are important in what we’re doing,” said Mr. Trump, who is trying to broker a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine and negotiate trade agreements with multiple countries.

He posted on Truth Social shortly after arriving in Rome that Ukraine and Russia should meet for “very high level talks” on ending the bloody three-year war sparked by Russia’s invasion. His envoy, Steve Witkoff, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier Friday, and Trump said both sides were “very close to a deal.”

Zelenskyy arrived in Rome on Saturday to attend the funeral, joining Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska. Putin did not attend.

contributed to this report.