Analysis
Called by Francis, small signs of peace in Trump-Zelensky talk
Among those hundreds of dark-clad potentates who sat thronged at the side of the Pope's coffin, in front of the immense red crowd of cardinals, there was a certain sign of peace.
“Let us offer each other the sign of peace,” the priest says during Mass. This time, at Francis' funeral, it might have really happened. He was a pontiff who always applied a theology of concrete gestures, so he would not have minded at all that his last earthly appointment turned into a kind of world summit, a quasi-UN assembly, with Zelensky and Trump speaking for a quarter of an hour in St. Peter's before the start of Mass, seated on the little red chairs intended for the guests of honor (procured at the last minute by Monsignor Leonardo Sapienza), the first time the two spoke since the meeting at the White House in February that ended very badly.
The Ukrainian was wearing a black suit, a sharp change from his customary outfits in camouflage colors. It was not known until the last moment whether he would attend, also because of the frosty relationship with the U.S. president. A front-row seat was reserved for him.
In the days after Francis' death, many senior prelates had hoped that the world's powerful would decide to listen to his appeals for peace, that they wouldn’t come all the way to Rome just to rush through a diplomatic formality, that even the “toughest” would be seized by some kind of “pangs of conscience,” as Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia told il manifesto.
It is highly unlikely that Trump, like the Nameless in Manzoni's The Betrothed, was struck by some divine revelation in front of St. Peter's, accustomed as he is to using religion as a reactionary tool. And yet, on Saturday, among those hundreds of dark-clad potentates who sat thronged at the side of the Pope's coffin, in front of the immense red crowd of cardinals, there was a certain sign of peace.
A “very symbolic meeting that has potential to become historic, if we achieve joint results,” said the Ukrainian president. The White House described the talk as “very productive.” And Vladimir Putin, the great absentee, who sent Minister Olga Lyubimova to Rome, let it be known that he was ready for direct negotiations “without preconditions.”
France's Macron (quickly turned away by Donald) and the U.K.'s Starmer were also in the vicinity of the two. Celebrating cardinal Giovanni Battista Re urged in his homily that an “honest negotiation” was needed, invoking Francis's repeated appeals to put down the guns and talk to each other, including with enemies or former allies. At lunchtime, Ukrainian sources were speculating on a possible second round of the meeting with Trump, after the funeral. But that didn’t happen, with the U.S. president immediately departing for Washington. Nonetheless, Kyiv said that all the main issues had been addressed. Trump posted a photo of the church meeting on his Truth Social, an encouraging sign.
Von der Leyen and the U.S. leader didn’t interact beyond a handshake, but they have reportedly agreed to hold a real meeting, the first one since the U.S. election and the shock of the tariffs. She also met with Zelensky, reassuring him once again of the EU’s support (“You can count on our support at the negotiating table to achieve a just and lasting peace”). Meloni met with him as well, eager as the hostess to show that she was a protagonist, both on the Ukrainian front and in U.S.-EU relations.
In the end, the story remained much the same as in past weeks: Macron and Starmer insisting that Putin finally show good faith (“It's up to President Putin to prove that he really wants peace,” the Elysée chief said), Meloni saying the same things but less eager to be one of the “willing,” and Trump, as always, a loose cannon.
First in the quiet of the aisles, then in front of St. Peter’s, the powerful did their song-and-dance for the media. They seemed to take it as a final act of generosity by Francis, who in his 12 years as pontiff had railed against them and even pulled them by the sleeve, while they ignored him, most recently on the mad rush towards European rearmament. But perhaps that doesn’t apply to everyone: Sergio Mattarella, in the front row, had built a strong connection with Francis, made even closer by the many values they shared.
On Saturday, for once, it was not them, the heads of state and government, who were the focus of the thoughts of the tens of thousands of citizens (faithful and not) who flocked to pay their last respects – with the exception, that is, of the journalists who were watching them from their seats on the large terrace set up at the Charlemagne Wing. And it is no coincidence that the loudest applause from the crowd came when Cardinal Re recalled Bergoglio's words and actions in favor of migrants – including the mass celebrated at the U.S.-Mexico border (something that probably didn’t sit well with Trump) – peace and caring for the planet.
“We are confident that the spirit of Francis will blow, as the wind does, toward peace between Ukrainians and Russians,” said senator Pier Ferdinando Casini, one of the Italians sat in the spaces below the steps of the basilica, along with former Italian prime ministers such as Conte, Draghi, Gentiloni and Renzi, House presidents Fontana and La Russa, PD leader Schlein, Fratoianni, Bonelli, Former Chamber presidents Bertinotti, Boldrini and Violante, and ministers Salvini, Tajani, Giorgetti, Bernini, Lollobrigida, Valditara and Urso. Meloni was seated at the higher level, among government leaders.
On the whole, Italian politics was almost invisible, as it has been for Francis' agenda these past 12 years: a South American and global pope, light years away from the intermingling of the two sides of the Tiber that has marked decades of Italian history.
On the day in which we said farewell to Francis, it is no coincidence that international politics remained in the foreground – and the Ukrainian conflict in particular, on which the Pope charted his own course and had some unwelcome words for Zelensky about “NATO barking at Russia's door” as one of the causes of the war. It was an uncomfortable position to hold, but it came with his strong commitment to reach a diplomatic solution, a task entrusted to Cardinal Zuppi. In the end, his funeral turned into a summit and a faint hope for peace.
Originally published at https://ilmanifesto.it/trump-zelensky-segno-di-pace-a-san-pietro on 2025-04-27