WASHINGTON, Apr 25: US President Donald Trump headed to Rome on Friday for the funeral of Pope Francis, the unexpected first foreign trip of his second term in which he will face foreign leaders including Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky.
Trump had a distant relationship with the late pontiff who did not hesitate to criticize him sharply on his signature policy of mass deportations of migrants.
But Trump will not miss what is set to be a major diplomatic gathering in which some 50 heads of state including 10 reigning monarchs.
Among them will be Zelensky, in what will be the two leaders' first time together in person since a disastrous White House meeting on February 28.
Trump and Vice President JD Vance in that meeting berated Zelensky, calling him ungrateful for the billions of dollars of US military assistance since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Tensions eased following the meeting, with Ukraine agreeing to a US-led proposal for a one-month unconditional ceasefire, putting the onus on Russia which has not accepted and Thursday carried out its deadliest strike in nearly a year in Kyiv.
Trump, while calling on Russia to stop its attacks, has resumed blaming Zelensky, including pressing him to accept Russia control of Crimea, the peninsula seized by Moscow in 2014.
"Crimea will stay with Russia. And Zelensky understands that," Trump told Time magazine in an interview published Friday.
No meetings have been announced in Rome for Trump, who is due to stay only half a day in the Eternal City.
But Trump may find discomfort around some leaders around him -- chief among them his predecessor, Joe Biden. �"AFP
