admin Former US President Trump and Ukrainian President Zelensky are set to meet face-to-face for the first time since their Oval Office clash, as Vatican seating arrangements place them near each other at Pope’s funeral.
Former US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are expected to attend Pope Francis’ funeral on Saturday in what would mark their first in-person meeting since their highly publicised confrontation in the Oval Office last February. While current seating plans suggest the two leaders will not be seated close to one another, their presence at the same high-profile event has reignited attention on their strained relationship, New York Post reported.
According to preliminary arrangements, Trump, attending alongside the official US delegation, is expected to be seated in the third row, between African dignitaries, and notably distanced from Zelensky. The seating chart follows strict Vatican protocol, which arranges world leaders alphabetically by their countries’ names in French — the same system used at Pope John Paul II’s funeral in 2005. This places the United States (États-Unis) between Ethiopia and Eswatini, formerly known as Swaziland.
