Footage of the two leaders approaching the simple red chairs shows that there were originally three chairs together — before one was hastily removed just as they came to sit down. Moments before, Trump had a somewhat awkward encounter with French president Emmanuel Macron.

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

Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky met briefly in the hush of St Peter's basilica on the sidelines of Pope Francis's funeral on Saturday in their first encounter since a noisy White House clash, as the US president pushes the Ukrainian leader to make a peace deal with Russia.