Zelensky meets Vance as Russian drones pound Ukraine

ROME, Italy, May 20 ------ Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with US Vice President JD Vance, for the first time since the disastrous shouting match in the White House in February, as Russia launched a "record" drone barrage on Kyiv, after talks with Moscow which did not yield a ceasefire. "We discussed the talks in Istanbul, where the Russians sent a low-level delegation with no decision-making powers," Zelensky wrote on Telegram following the meeting with Vance. 

That took place at the US ambassador's residence in Rome the Villa Taverna after the two of them attended Pope Leo's inaugural mass in the Vatican. "We also touched on the need for sanctions against Russia, bilateral trade, defense cooperation, the situation on the battlefield and the future exchange of prisoners," Zelensky added.  

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Zelensky's aide Andriy Yermak were also present at the meeting, where the two sides discussed steps towards a just and lasting peace in Ukraine. A senior Ukrainian official from the president's office, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP that Zelensky and Vance also discussed preparations for Monday's telephone conversation between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The official said that the encounter went "better" than the Oval Office row three months ago, when Vance publicly accused Zelensky of being "disrespectful" towards Trump, who fuelled the row by telling the Ukrainian leader he should be more "thankful" and that he had no "cards" to play in negotiations with Russia 

Zelensky and his wife Olena Zelenska were earlier granted an audience with Leo following his inauguration. "We thank the Vatican for its willingness to become a platform for direct negotiations between Ukraine and Russia," Ukraine's leader said after meeting the pontiff. "The martyred Ukraine is waiting for negotiations for a just and lasting peace to finally happen," Leo XIV said during his inauguration. 

Source: news.abs-cbn.com