European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen finally met US President Donald Trump in Rome on Saturday, with plans underway for a formal meeting between the two.
A video published by the Italian daily La Stampa on Saturday showed Trump, flanked by his wife Melania and other leaders, shaking hands with von der Leyen and apparently having a short, cordial conversation on the sidelines of Pope Francis’ funeral.
The meeting was their first face-to-face conversation since Trump returned to the White House.
Senior Commission officials have been trying for months to arrange a bilateral meeting between von der Leyen and Trump, but to no avail. Until Saturday, they had not formally met since Trump returned for a second term as president in January.
“In their brief exchange of views, President von der Leyen and President Trump agreed to meet,” a commission spokesman said on Saturday afternoon, adding that a full discussion would take place later and not in Rome. They declined to comment on whether a formal invitation had been extended to Brussels.
Ahead of von der Leyen’s trip to Italy for Pope Francis’ funeral, the commission said that if “an opportunity arises” to meet Trump in person, it would be “taken advantage of.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently snubbed the EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas during a visit to Washington. Rubio’s team said “last-minute scheduling issues” led to the meeting being cancelled.
Pope Francis’s funeral drew scores of world leaders to Rome for events around St. Peter’s Square on Saturday, creating opportunities for informal discussions. Trump continued to insist last week that he was moving closer to an agreement with Russia to end the war in Ukraine.
Earlier on Saturday, Trump held talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Rome, their first face-to-face meeting since a tense exchange in the White House Oval Office in late February.
(Japanese)
Source: Source