St. Peter’s Square broke out in applause for Volodimir Zelenski. Inside the Basilica, he and Donald Trump were particularly discussed with Emmanuel Macron and Kir Starmer. The occasion was the funeral of Pope Francis, but the picture was full of geopolitical messages of the moment.

Even the preaching, spoken by one of the senior officials of the Catholic Church, referred to tensions around US immigration policy, according to the Bloomberg agency.

Cardinal Giovanni Batista spoke about the defense of refugees by the deceased Pope and his journey to the US-Mexico border, repeating Francis’ famous words about the need to “build bridges, not walls”. The Pope had first used this phrase in February 2016, when Trump was still a candidate for president and had begun to make a proposal for the construction of a wall on the border central to his campaign. It was the first of many criticisms to follow in the coming years by a spiritual leader who often expressed strong views on the war in Ukraine and the conflict in Gaza.

As Cardinal Re speaks, a television camera was zooming to record Trump’s expression, with his mouth slightly open.

Defying the tradition, President Trump wore the characteristic of the blue suit, standing out in a black sea. Due to the alphabetical series in French, two powerful supporters of Ukraine were sitting among the leaders of Estonia and Finland. However, the US president had secured a position in the first row, in recognition of his capacity.

The funeral service began at 10am on Saturday morning and, according to Francis’ wish, was a relatively simple Vatican data ceremony, a blend of serious reflection and joyous farewell, with the crowd cheering for the pope who had asked for a pope.

However, the whole event was much more than a funeral.

Before the ceremony started, an informal meeting between Trump and Zelenski had already caused international headlines. It was their first meeting after the explosive tie-a-tete in the White House in February.

Trump wants to mediate a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, and talks are at a critical point. After the devastating incident in Washington, where Zelensky was publicly condemned, it was Macron and Starmer who rushed to the American capital to get the situation. The twin re -intervened on Saturday, this time in the Basilica of St. Peter, forming a circle with Zelenski and Trump.

Dozens of leaders from all over the world have gathered to pay a lasting tribute to a lifetime Pope, was worshiped by progressive but caused dislike for many socially conservatives.

But all eyes were on Trump: Who would greet and who would avoid.

Former US President Joe Biden, a dedicated Catholic, was sitting with his wife Jill Biden four or five rows behind. He didn’t seem to talk to Trump.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who had recently visited Trump at the White House, kept a low profile. Faithful Catholic and with a personal relationship with the Pope, who had invited the G7 last year, chose to have lunch after the operation with the like -minded Argentinean president, Javier Miley, who had previously described the Pope as a “dirty leftist”.

It is rare to gather so many leaders under the same roof or, in this case, under the same dome. Given Trump’s contempt for multilateral diplomacy and uncertainty about his participation in the next G7 meeting in Canada, his presence at the funeral was an opportunity for informal contacts.

In a morning ceremony, where attendees were sitting in the sun, Finnish President Alexander Stubb offered at some point to give Trump a bottle of water. Trump, known for his aversion to the germs, kindly denied.

Trump himself acknowledged that funeral business discussions are not always easy: “It’s a bit disrespectful to meet at a pope’s funeral,” they say, “he told reporters on Friday on a flight to Rome. “But I’ll talk to people, I’ll see a lot of people.”

With the European Union under pressure from trade war and duties, it was a timely time for European Commission President Ursula von der Laien to try to have some brief contact with the US president and succeeded. The two had not met since Trump returned to power. Their cameras recorded politely chatting on a short tet-a-tete, which the EU He described as a “good start” for their future cooperation.

As it became later known, they agreed to have official talks at the next stage.

The window of opportunity, however, was narrow and closed quickly. There was no time for a second meeting with Zelenski, a spokesman for the Ukrainian president explained because of the pressured programs.

The Presidential Motorway departed quickly from Rome and Trump took off shortly after noon. High -level contacts continued for Zelenski, who then had consecutive meetings with Starmer and Meloni.

From the air, however, Trump did not take long to comment on developments in Ukraine via the Truth Social platform, sending an indirect message to Putin:

“There was no reason for Putin to launch rockets in residential areas, cities and villages in recent days,” Trump said, implying that Putin may be fooling him with supposed peace intentions and that “secondary sanctions” may be necessary.