President Trump fired off rare public criticism of Russian leader Vladimir Putin and sat for a dramatic one-on-one talk with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Vatican over the weekend,

Zelensky used the funeral of Pope Francis to launch a diplomatic blitz to head off a U.S. proposal to end Russia’s war on Ukraine on terms favorable to Moscow.

President Donald Trump issued a rare rebuke of Russian President Vladimir Putin after Russia launched a major attack on Ukraine overnight. He later said he believed Putin would listen to his plea to halt Russian strikes on Ukraine and expressed optimism about a potential peace deal.