US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky held crunch war talks in the heart of the Vatican minutes before the start of the funeral of Pope Francis on Saturday, as the White House mounts an increasingly urgent push to strike a peace deal in Ukraine.

The 15-minute meeting was the first time they had come face-to-face since February's acrimonious encounter in the Oval Office.

The White House called the discussion “very productive” and said it would release more details later. Zelensky said “good meeting” on social media.