Ukraine, Trump-Zelensky face-off in St Peter's. The tycoon: 'Putin mocks me, sanctions are needed'. Zelensky: "From Meloni clear position, I appreciate it".

Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, in a post on X reported on his meeting in Italy with French President, Emmanuel Macron, on the sidelines of Pope Francis' funeral. "I thank Emmanuel for his unwavering support for Ukraine and for all efforts to help our people resist and move closer to peace," Zelensky wrote, reporting that during the meeting the two "discussed the path to a complete and unconditional ceasefire and the need to put pressure on Russia to establish it." "I outlined the consequences of the Russian attacks in Kryvyi Rih, Sumy and Kiev. To protect the lives of Ukrainians, it is crucial to strengthen our air defence. We count on the support of our partners," Zelensky concluded.

Around 3pm Zelensky then went to Palazzo Chigi for a face-to-face meeting with the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, which lasted about 45 minutes. During the talks, the two leaders 'reiterated their support for President Trump's efforts to achieve a just and lasting peace, capable of guaranteeing a future of security, sovereignty and freedom for Ukraine,' a note from Palazzo Chigi explained. The Prime Minister then expressed, 'also on behalf of the government, her condolences for the victims of the recent Russian attacks, renewing her firm condemnation of such acts and stressing the urgency of an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, as well as the need for a concrete commitment by Moscow to launch a peace process'. Meloni then 'welcomed Ukraine's full readiness for an immediate ceasefire. It is now expected that Russia will also concretely demonstrate its willingness to pursue peace'.

"Today in Rome I met with the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni. We discussed the importance of security guarantees for Ukraine and efforts to restore peace and protect human lives." Volodymyr Zelensky wrote this on X. "46 days ago Ukraine," he wrote, "agreed to a complete and unconditional ceasefire and for 46 days Russia continued to kill our people. Therefore, special attention was paid to the importance of putting pressure on Russia'. He added: "I appreciate Giorgia Meloni's clear and principled stance".
The Ukrainian leader added that he had 'informed' the Italian premier 'of the constructive meetings held by the Ukrainian delegation with representatives of the US, France, the UK and Germany in Paris and London. There is a common position: an unconditional ceasefire must be the first step towards achieving a sustainable peace in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the conflict in Ukraine does not stop. In the same hours that the world was watching the burial of Francis, Russian troops liberated the Kursk region. This was reported by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, quoted by Ria Novosti. "Russian Armed Forces Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov reported to Supreme Commander-in-Chief Vladimir Putin on the completion of the operation to liberate the Kursk region from Ukrainian neo-Nazis," Peskov said.

The assessment of the situation on the ground by the Ukrainian Armed Forces is opposite. "The defensive operation of the Forces of Ukraine in parts of the Kursk region continues. The operational situation is difficult, but our units continue to hold certain positions and carry out their assigned tasks, while inflicting damage on the enemy with all types of weapons and active defence tactics,' the Ukrainian General Staff in fact explained, as reported by the Kiev media.

The day also saw developments in the case of the Russian general killed yesterday on the outskirts of Moscow. The Russian domestic intelligence service (Fsb) said it had detained a 'Ukrainian special services agent' accused of planting the bomb on the blown-up car that killed general Yaroslav Moskalik, a member of the general staff. The FSB, quoted by the Ria Novosti news agency, says the device was remotely detonated with a signal sent 'from Ukrainian territory'.

"Following urgent measures, an agent of the Ukrainian special services, Ignat Kuzin, born in 1983, holder of a residence permit in Ukraine, was arrested. He planted a bomb in a Volkswagen Golf in Balashikha, Moscow region, causing the death of the deputy chief of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff's main operational directorate, Lieutenant General Yaroslav Moskalik, born in 1966," the FSB reported. According to the Russian 007, Kuzin bought a car and installed a homemade explosive device in it, the components of which he took from a hiding place set up by the Ukrainian special services in the Moscow region. The device was detonated remotely. The arrested agent was taken to the Investigative Committee, Ria reports, and made a confession in a video published today by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB).

Russian President Vladimir Putin informed White House envoy Steve Witkoff, whom he met with yesterday at the Kremlin, that Russia is ready to engage in peace negotiations with Ukraine "without preconditions", spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, disclosed. "In yesterday's talks with Donald Trump's envoy Witkoff, Putin reiterated that Russia is ready to resume negotiations with Ukraine without preconditions," the Kremlin spokesman said, pointing out, however, that this readiness had already been expressed by the Russian president on several occasions in the past.

"There is no reason why Putin should have fired missiles at civilian areas, cities and towns, in the last few days. It makes me think that maybe he doesn't want to stop the war,he's just messing with me, and that he should be treated differently, with "secondary sanctions" or "banking". Too many people are dying!!!". US President Donald Trump writes this on his social Truth, just hours after meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in St Peter's. "This is Sleepy Joe Biden's war, not mine. It was a losing war from day one, and it should never have happened, and it wouldn't have happened if I had been president at the time. I'm just trying to clean up the mess that Obama and Biden left me, and what a mess," Trump added.

In this scenario, the US would also privately offer to provide security guarantees to the 'coalition of the willing' promoted by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron. The Telegraph writes this. US officials were reportedly open to providing intelligence and logistical support to British and European soldiers to support a peace agreement in Ukraine by land, air, and sea. For two months Starmer had been insisting to Trump. Also the Telegraph had speculated in the past few days that the willing would give up sending soldiers precisely because it was considered unsafe without US guarantees.

In response to a White House proposal to end the war in Ukraine, the Ukrainian leadership, according to US press reports, has drawn up a counter-offer, which in some ways contradicts Trump's demands but also leaves room for possible compromise on issues that have long seemed unresolvable. According to the plan, obtained by the New York Times, there would be no restrictions on the size of Kiev's army, a US-backed 'European security contingent' would be deployed on Ukrainian territory to provide security, and frozen Russian assets would be used to repair war damage in Ukraine.

These three provisions may be inapplicable to the Kremlin, but some parts of the Ukrainian plan - according to The Nyt - suggest the search for common ground. There is no mention, for example, of Ukraine's complete reconquest of all territory conquered by Russia or its insistence on Kiev joining NATO, two issues Ukrainian President Zelensky has long declared non-negotiable.

Il presidente francese Emmanuel Macron, il primo ministro inglese Keir Starmer, il presidente americano Donald Trump con il presidente dell’Ucraina Volodymyr Zelensky si incontrano in Vaticano prima del funerale di Papa Francesco (AFP)

On Friday 25 April, a three-hour meeting was held in Moscow between US envoy Steve Witkoff and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The meeting was "constructive" and "allowed for further rapprochement of the positions of Russia and the US also on a number of other international issues", according to the Kremlin. The peace plan for Ukraine proposed by the US would include de jure US recognition of Crimea as Russian territory and de facto recognition of Russian control over the areas currently occupied by Moscow. The US would also propose the lifting of sanctions adopted against Russia since 2014.

"Demanding that Ukraine cede part of its territory to the aggressor Putin, inviting the Russians to prepare for new wars, is a simple and tragic repetition of the fatal mistake made by Chamberlain in the past". EU Defence Commissioner Andrius Kubilius writes this on X. The then British prime minister "Chamberlain in 1938 in Munich believed he could reach a peace agreement with Hitler and demanded that Czechoslovakia cede part of its territory to Hitler. This was the beginning of the road to the Second World War. Churchill, Roosevelt and Reagan fought' instead 'for freedom and against evil empires. And they succeeded,' he points out.