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NHK
7 hours ago
- Politics
- NHK
Zelenskyy responds to Trump's comparison to kids' brawl
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Russian President Vladimir Putin is a murderer and not a child in a park, as described by US President Donald Trump on Thursday. Zelenskyy made comment in an interview with American media outlet ABC News. He was referring to Trump's remarks, in which he compared the conflict between the two countries as two young children fighting in a park. The Ukraine president said, "We are not kids at the playground," adding that Putin is "a murderer who came to the park to kill kids." Zelenskyy was asked if his relationship with Trump, which apparently improved after their brief meeting at the Vatican in April, remains that way. He said he would like to believe that the relationship has changed for the better but cannot give a 100-percent guarantee. Zelenskyy also said there are people who communicate with Trump more than he does and that they convey different messages to him. He expressed his desire for more communication. Meanwhile, the countries continue to exchange fire. The Ukrainian Air Force has said Russian forces launched 479 drones and 20 missiles against Ukraine from Sunday night to Monday morning.
Asharq Al-Awsat
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Asharq Al-Awsat
JD Vance Gives Pope Leo XIV an Invitation from Trump to Visit US
US Vice President JD Vance extended an invitation to Pope Leo XIV to visit the United States during a meeting at the Vatican on Monday ahead of a flurry of US-led diplomatic efforts to make progress on a ceasefire in Russia's war in Ukraine. Vance gave the first American pope a letter from US President Donald Trump and the first lady inviting him. The Chicago-born pope took the letter and put it on his desk and was heard saying "at some point," in the video footage of the meeting provided by Vatican Media. Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, also gave the Augustinian pope a copy of two of St. Augustine's most seminal works, "The City of God" and "On Christian Doctrine," the vice president's office said. Another gift: A Chicago Bears T-shirt with Leo's name on it. "As you can probably imagine, people in the United States are extremely excited about you," Vance told Leo as they exchanged gifts. Leo gave Vance a bronze sculpture with the words in Italian "Peace is a fragile flower," and a coffee-table sized picture book of the papal apartments in the Apostolic Palace. Leo noted that Francis had chosen not to live in them and added, "And I may live in, but it's not totally decided." Vance led the US delegation to Sunday's formal Mass opening the pontificate of the first American pope. Joining him at the meeting on Monday was Secretary of State Marco Rubio, also a Catholic, Vance spokesperson Luke Schroeder said. The two then also met with the Vatican foreign minister, Archbishop Paul Gallagher. "There was an exchange of views on some current international issues, calling for respect for humanitarian law and international law in areas of conflict and for a negotiated solution between the parties involved," according to a Vatican statement after their meeting. According to the photo of the visits released by the Vatican, Leo's brother, Louis Prevost, a self-described "MAGA-type," and his wife Deborah joined the delegation during the visit. The Vatican listed Vance's delegation as the first of several private audiences Leo was having Monday with people who had come to Rome for his inaugural Mass, including other Christian leaders and a group of faithful from his old diocese in Chiclayo, Peru. The Vatican, which was largely sidelined during the first three years of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, has offered to host any peace talks while continuing humanitarian efforts to facilitate prisoner swaps and reunite Ukrainian children taken by Russia. After greeting Leo briefly at the end of Sunday's Mass, Vance spent the rest of the day in separate meetings, including with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He also met with European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Italy's Premier Giorgia Meloni, who said she hoped the trilateral meeting could be a "new beginning." In the evening, Meloni spoke by phone with US President Donald Trump and several other European leaders ahead of Trump's expected call with Russia's President Vladimir Putin on Monday, according to a statement from Meloni's office. Leo, the former Cardinal Robert Prevost, is a Chicago-born Augustinian missionary who spent the bulk of his ministry in Chiclayo, a commercial city of around 800,000 on Peru's northern Pacific coast. In the days since his May 8 election, Leo has vowed "every effort" to help bring peace to Ukraine. He also has emphasized his continuity with Pope Francis, who made caring for migrants and the poor a priority of his pontificate. Before his election, Prevost shared news articles on X that were critical of the Trump administration's plans for mass deportations of migrants. Vance was one of the last foreign officials to meet with Francis before the Argentine pope's April 21 death. The two had tangled over migration, with Francis publicly rebuking the Trump administration's deportation plan and correcting Vance's theological justification for it.
The Guardian
19-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Pope Leo XIV receives White House invitation in meeting with JD Vance
Donald Trump has issued a White House invitation to Pope Leo XIV, the Chicago-born pontiff who as Cardinal Robert Prevost previously criticised Trump's administration. The invitation came via a letter from the US president and the first lady, Melania Trump, that was delivered to the new pope by the US vice-president, JD Vance, during a meeting at the Vatican on Monday morning. A video of the start of the meeting shared by the Vatican also showed Vance and his wife giving the pontiff a Chicago Bears jersey with Leo's name on it. 'As you can probably imagine, the US people are extremely excited about you,' said Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019. In return, Leo gave Vance a bronze sculpture with words in Italian meaning 'peace is a fragile flower'. The pope spoke to Vance privately before they were joined by the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio. The Vatican did not reveal what was discussed. Before being elected pope earlier this month, Prevost criticised Trump's administration in several posts on his X account, mainly targeting the government over its hardline policies on immigration. In February he also shared on X an opinion article published in the National Catholic Reporter titled 'JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn't ask us to rank our love for others,' after comments that Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, made in an interview on Fox News. After meeting Leo, Vance spoke with officials from the Vatican's secretary of state. Those talks were 'cordial', the Vatican said, adding that there was 'an exchange of views on some current international issues, calling for respect for humanitarian law and international law in areas of conflict and for a negotiated solution between the parties involved'. The meetings at the Vatican took place hours before Trump was due to speak by phone with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, in an effort to end the war in Ukraine. Sign up to Headlines Europe A digest of the morning's main headlines from the Europe edition emailed direct to you every week day after newsletter promotion Vance, Rubio and their wives were in Rome to attend a mass on Sunday marking the official start of Leo's papacy. The Vatican has not confirmed or denied whether the previous social media posts were authentic, although the X account has been deleted. Trump and Vance also clashed with the late Pope Francis over immigration. Christopher White, the Vatican correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter and author of the forthcoming book Pope Leo XIV: Inside the Conclave and the Dawn of a New Papacy, said: 'Vance certainly knows where the pope stands on the Trump administration's position on migration, and so I think it was probably important for both sides to use the meeting today as a reset [in relations']. 'But they're obviously worlds apart on migration, and so today was really more about Ukraine and finding a solution. Before becoming pope, Leo was much more direct than Francis ever was because he characterised the war as an imperialistic aggression on the part of Russia.' White said that while Trump would seek to capitalise on Leo's papacy, it was unlikely the pontiff would make the US a priority. 'He will be quite shrewd,' White added. 'I think it's fair to say that we can expect him to visit Peru, his adopted country, before he visits his homeland.'
The Independent
19-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
JD Vance invites Pope Leo to the White House on behalf of Trump during first meeting
Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio held their first formal meeting with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican a day after attending the pontiff's inaugural mass. During his visit to the Apostolic Palace on Monday morning, Vance, a Catholic convert, gave the 69-year-old Chicago-born pontiff a letter penned by President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump in which the couple urged him to visit the White House. According to video footage of the meeting taken by Vatican Media and obtained by the Associated Press, Pope Leo was heard saying, 'at some point.' In the private meeting, which was initially one-on-one before they were also joined by Second Lady Usha Vance, Rubio and his wife Jeanette Rubio, the vice president's office said that Leo was given two of St Augustine's most seminal works: The City of God and On Christian Doctrine. A third gift was a Chicago Bears T-shirt adorned with 'Pope Leo XIV.' In return, Leo gave Vance a bronze sculpture with 'Peace is a fragile flower' etched in Italian. The vice president also received a small picture book of the papal apartments in the Apostolic Palace. 'As you can probably imagine, people in the United States are extremely excited about you,' Vance told the pope upon exchanging gifts. The meeting comes less than a month after Vance met the late Pope Francis, who had previously rebuked the Trump administration's mass deportation plans, a day before his death on Easter Sunday. Vance and Rubio also met with Vatican foreign minister Archbishop Paul Gallagher on Monday for a 'cordial' meeting that reaffirmed 'good bilateral relations.' 'There was an exchange of views on some current international issues, calling for respect for humanitarian law and international law in areas of conflict and for a negotiated solution between the parties involved,' the Vatican said in a statement. The meetings were set against a backdrop of simmering tensions with the papacy publicly criticizing Vance's understanding of Catholicism and the Trump administration's anti-immigrant rhetoric. In return, some conservative pundits and MAGA loyalists have complained about what they deemed the pontiff's progressive values. The Trump administration hopes to hold out an olive branch and reset relations with the Vatican by working harmoniously on resolving Russia's war in Ukraine. The vice president led the U.S. delegation to Pope Leo's inaugural mass on Sunday, during which the pontiff called for peace in Gaza, Ukraine, and Myanmar. A source in the Ukrainian delegation told Reuters that Vance and Rubio also met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Trump is expected to speak to both Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday. For the rest of the day, Vance met with foreign leaders, including European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Italy's Premier Giorgia Meloni, who said she hoped the meeting could be a 'new beginning.'
Daily Mail
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
JD Vance brushes off new Pope 'snub' by giving him very unusual gift in closed-door Vatican meeting
Vice President JD Vance and his wife Usha met with Pope Leo XIV on Monday during an official papal audience with the American delegation that traveled to the Vatican for the pope's inaugural mass. The Vice President met with the American-born pope from Chicago and presented him with a Chicago Bears Jersey with the name Pope Leo XIV stitched on the back. 'In the United States, people are extremely excited,' Vance told the Pope, according to video of the meeting at the Vatican. The Vice President also presented Vance with a letter from President Donald Trump inviting the new pope to visit the United States. The Vatican revealed that Pope Leo had 'cordial' talks with Vance during his visit. 'During the cordial talks held at the Secretariat of State, satisfaction was once again expressed at the existing good bilateral relations, and the collaboration between Church and State was discussed, as well as some matters of special relevance to ecclesial life and religious freedom,' the press release from the Vatican read. Vance and the pope spoke about current conflicts around the world, presumably the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. '[H]ope was expressed that humanitarian law and international law be respected in areas of conflict and that there be a negotiated solution between the parties involved,' the Vatican noted. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was also present for the meeting with the pope as part of the American delegation that traveled to the Vatican on Sunday for the pope's inaugural mass. 'I was chosen, without any merit of my own, and now, with fear and trembling, I come to you as a brother, who desires to be the servant of your faith and your joy, walking with you on the path of God's love, for he wants us all to be united in one family,' the pope said during his homily. The pope also spoke about the need for 'unity' throughout the world and criticized 'too much discord, too many wounds caused by hatred, violence, prejudice, the fear of difference, and an economic paradigm that exploits the Earth's resources and marginalizes the poorest.' After the Mass, Vance and his wife were seen shaking hands Pope Leo and exchanging a few words for about 17 seconds, which was mistakenly interpreted as a 'snub' of the vice president as the pair was scheduled for a private audience. Pope Leo XIV exchanges gifts with US Vice President J.D. Vance and his wife Usha Vance during a private audience at the Apostolic Palace Vance converted to the Catholic faith in 2019. This is the second trip Vance has made to the Vatican in less than a month, as the vice president visited in April for the celebration of Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Vance met with Pope Francis just hours before he died on April 21, at his residence. After Pope Leo was elected by the Papal conclave, resurfaced posts on his X account showed several posts that shared articles critical of the Trump administration and Vance's Christian defense for the administration's tough immigration polices. Vance dismissed their disagreements on immigration policy, telling radio host Hugh Hewitt that 'I try not to play the politicization of the Pope game.' 'I'm sure he's going to say a lot of things that I love. I'm sure he'll say some things that I disagree with, but I'll continue to pray for him and the Church despite it all and through it all, and that'll be the way that I handle it,' he said. 'I think it would be better for all of us if we allowed the Church to be about the saving of souls and didn't try to fit it into a pre-ordained political box,' he concluded.
