The White House said their discussion was “very productive” and that more details would be released later. The meeting lasted about 15 minutes inside St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican just before they took their seats for the outdoor funeral service. Zelenskyy said “good meeting” on social media after the funeral.

The meeting between the two world leaders would have had the late Pope Francis "filled with hope," the last U.S. ambassador to the Vatican said.

The funeral of Pope Francis gave Catholics across the globe the chance to bid farewell to a beloved pontiff – and for world leaders to rub shoulders at a fraught time for international diplomacy.

Accompanied by first lady Melania Trump and a U.S. delegation, it will be Trump's first foreign trip of his second term. Trump this week has avoided talking about any friction with the 88-year-old pontiff.

The office of President Zelensky shared a picture of Trump and Zelensky engaged in conversation at St. Peter’s Basilica.

A dozen states sued the Trump administration in the U.S. Court of International Trade in New York on Wednesday to stop its tariff policy.