A lip reader has revealed what Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump said to each other at the Pope’s funeral in what was their first meeting since their Oval Office showdown.
The US and Ukrainian leaders spoke for around 15 minutes inside St Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City, in a meeting which Zelensky described as having the potential to be ‘historic’.
The White House also hailed the meeting as ‘very productive’ as world leaders scramble to try and find a way to end the war in Ukraine which has been raging for more than three years.
Footage from the meeting shows Trump, in a blue suit, and Zelensky, in a black top and trousers, locked in an intense conversation while sitting opposite each other – both intensely leaning forward on the edge of their chairs.
Later, the two world leaders were joined by Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron, who warmly embraced Zelensky and placed his hand on the Ukrainian president’s shoulder.
During the hastily organised bilateral meeting on the sidelines of Pope Francis’s funeral, Trump is said to have offered Zelensky ‘reassurance’, according to a lip reader.
Although there is only a brief clip of the meeting, forensic lip reader