Zelensky meets U.S., EU leaders in Rome ahead of Trump-Putin call

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with top U.S. officials and European leaders in Rome on Sunday, part of stepped-up diplomatic efforts ahead of a high-stakes phone call expected Monday between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on ending the war in Ukraine.

Zelensky spoke with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the U.S. ambassador’s residence, while German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he had spoken to Zelensky and Rubio on the sidelines of the new pope’s inauguration at the Vatican.

Merz said that he had also agreed with the leaders of France and Britain “that we will speak again with the American president in preparation for this conversation.”

“My firm impression is that both the Europeans and the Americans are determined to work together, but now also in a goal-oriented manner, to ensure that this terrible war ends soon,” Merz told reporters in Rome.

Trump said he plans to speak by phone Monday with Putin, and will then speak to Zelensky and leaders of various NATO countries, about ending the three-year-old war.

The intensified diplomacy came as Russia launched its largest drone barrage against Ukraine since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022, after the first direct talks between Moscow and Kyiv in years failed to yield a ceasefire.

Putin spurned Zelensky’s offer to meet face to face in Turkey last week after the Russian leader proposed direct negotiations — although not at the presidential level — as an alternative to a 30-day ceasefire urged by Ukraine and its Western allies, including the U.S.

Talks in Istanbul on Friday broke up after less than two hours without a ceasefire, although both sides agreed on exchanging 1,000 prisoners of war each, according to the heads of both delegations. Ukraine’s intelligence chief, Kyrylo Budanov, said on Ukrainian television Saturday that the exchange could happen as early as this week.

Russia fired a total of 273 exploding drones and decoys, Ukraine’s air force said Sunday. Of those, 88 were intercepted and 128 were lost, probably having been electronically jammed. The attacks targeted the Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk regions.

Yuriy Ignat, head of communications with the Ukrainian air force, told the Associated Press that the barrage was the biggest drone attack since the start of the full-scale invasion.

Russia’s previous largest known single drone attack was on the eve of the war’s third anniversary in February, when Russia pounded Ukraine with 267 drones.

Kyiv regional Gov. Mykola Kalashnyk said a 28-year-old woman was killed in a drone attack and three other people, including a 4-year-old child, were wounded.

Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defenses shot down seven Ukrainian drones overnight, and 18 more on Sunday morning.