Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Donald Trump have met inside St Peter's Basilica ahead of Pope Francis's funeral.

The White House described the 15-minute meeting as "very productive" and Zelensky later called it "very symbolic" with the "potential to become historic".

Trump and Zelensky were pictured sitting locked in deep discussion, minutes before the late pontiff's funeral was due to start.

The meeting came a day after Trump said Russia and Ukraine were "very close to a deal", following talks between his envoy Steve Witkoff and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Friday.

Posting an image of Zelensky sitting with Trump, the Ukrainian leader's head of office Andriy Yermak added a single word, "constructive".

The two leaders had not seen each other face-to-face since their tempestuous Oval Office meeting at the end of February, when Trump told Zelensky "you don't have the cards" and he was not winning against Russia.

He repeated that message this week, saying the Ukrainian leader had "no cards to play".

Trump has previously blamed Ukraine for starting the war and has accused Zelensky multiple times of being an obstacle to peace negotiations.

But posting from his Truth social account after leaving Rome, Trump took aim at the Russian president saying there was "no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas", in reference to Russian strikes on Kyiv earlier this week.

Trump added: "It makes me think that maybe he [Putin] doesn't want to stop the war, he's just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through 'Banking' or 'Secondary Sanctions?'"

Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin had confirmed Russia's readiness to enter into direct talks with Ukraine "without preconditions" in a meeting with Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff on Friday.

Putin aide Yuri Ushakov had described Witkoff's fourth visit to Russia this year as "very useful" and that it had brought "Russian and US positions closer together, not just on Ukraine but also on a range of other international issues".

In Rome, two images were released of Zelensky and Trump's one-on-one meeting ahead of the Pope's funeral.

The US leader was pictured in a blue suit while Ukraine's president wore a black top and trousers. The two men are seen sitting opposite each other having an intense conversation and holding serious expressions.

Zelensky described the sit down as a "very symbolic meeting that has potential to become historic, if we achieve joint results".

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha also posted the image on X with the caption: "No words are needed to describe the importance of this historic meeting. Two leaders working for peace in St. Peter's Basilica."

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