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.

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

During his whirlwind trip to Italy, President Trump’s interactions with world leaders, as they paid their respects to Francis, were being watched closely.