ROME 鈥斅犅爏aid Saturday he doubts聽聽wants to end his聽, expressing new skepticism that a peace deal can be reached soon.
Only a day earlier, Trump said Ukraine and Russia were "."
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, and President Donald Trump talk聽Saturday at Vatican.
"There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days,鈥 Trump said in a social media post as he flew back to the United States after attending Pope Francis鈥 funeral at the Vatican, where he met briefly with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Trump also hinted at further sanctions against Russia.
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鈥淚t makes me think that maybe he doesn鈥檛 want to stop the war, he鈥檚 just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through 'Banking' or 'Secondary Sanctions?' Too many people are dying!!!鈥 Trump wrote.
Meanwhile, Russia鈥檚 top general said all Ukrainian troops were forced from parts of Russia鈥檚 Kursk region, which Moscow lost control of last year to a . Ukrainian officials denied the claim.
Valery Gerasimov, chief of the general staff for Russia鈥檚 armed forces, gave Putin the news in a meeting Saturday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov聽told Russian state news outlet Interfax.
Russian President Vladimir Putin listens聽Saturday to Russian Chief of General Staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov during their meeting via videoconference at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, Russia.
In a statement, Putin congratulated the Russian soldiers and commanders and said Kyiv鈥檚 incursion 鈥渃ompletely failed.鈥
Ukrainian officials, however, said the fighting continues. 鈥淭he statements of representatives of the high command of the aggressor country about the alleged end of hostilities in the Kursk region of the Russian Federation are not true,鈥 Ukraine's General staff said.
Trump and top aides intensified their push to come to a deal to end the war that began聽when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, met with Putin in Moscow on Friday.聽 Putin told Witkoff that Russia was ready to negotiate with Kyiv without any preconditions, Peskov said Saturday.
The Trump-Zelenskyy conversation on the sidelines of the pope's funeral was the first face-to-face encounter between the two leaders since they argued during a聽聽at the White House in late February. That confrontation led the White House聽聽U.S. military assistance and intelligence sharing with Ukraine.
Days after ordering the pause, Trump also announced he was 鈥渟trongly considering鈥 imposing new sanctions and tariffs on Russia to try to prod Putin to negotiate in earnest.
Trump had not followed through on the threat 鈥 something even some of his staunch Republican allies are now pressuring him to do. In fact, when Trump announced new global tariffs this month, one major economy he excluded was Russia's.
U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, on Friday urged Trump to 鈥減ut the toughest of sanctions on Putin," arguing there is 鈥渃lear evidence that he is playing America as a patsy.鈥
It's the second time in a matter of days that Trump rebuked Putin, whom the American president rarely publicly criticizes.
On Thursday, Trump publicly urged the Russian leader to 鈥淪TOP!鈥 after a deadly barrage of attacks on Kyiv, Ukraine鈥檚 capital.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff greet each other Friday prior to their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia.
After their brief meeting Saturday, Zelenskyy鈥檚 office said the U.S. and Ukrainian teams were making arrangements for the leaders to talk again Saturday. But Trump went directly to the Rome airport after the funeral and boarded Air Force One for the 10-hour flight back to the U.S.
Zelenskyy's spokesperson, Serhii Nykyforov, said Trump and Zelenskyy did not meet again in person because of their tight schedules.
Zelenskyy called it a 鈥済ood meeting鈥 on social media.
鈥淲e discussed a lot one on one. Hoping for results on everything we covered. Protecting lives of our people. Full and unconditional ceasefire. Reliable and lasting peace that will prevent another war from breaking out,鈥 said the Ukrainian leader, who also held talks Saturday with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. 鈥淰ery symbolic meeting that has potential to become historic, if we achieve joint results. Thank you."
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, left, and President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy walk through the gardens Saturday聽at The Villa Wolkonsky in Rome, Italy, during a bilateral meeting.
The White House said the discussion was 鈥渧ery productive." The meeting lasted about 15 minutes inside St. Peter鈥檚 Basilica at the Vatican, where Francis often preached the need for a peaceful end to the war, just before the outdoor funeral service.聽The two leaders spoke privately, face to face and hunched over in chairs on the marbled floors.
Neither Putin nor Zelenskyy commented on Trump's calls聽for direct,聽聽on ending the war.
While Zelenskyy agreed to an American plan for an initial 30-day halt to hostilities, Russia has not signed on and continued to strike at targets inside Ukraine.
Putin did not attend Francis' funeral. He faces an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court, which accused him of war crimes stemming from聽.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, left, speaks with Ukraine's President Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy prior to a bilateral meeting聽Saturday聽in Rome, Italy.
Trump said in a Time magazine interview published Friday that聽听搁耻蝉蝉颈补听聽along the Black Sea in southern Ukraine in 2014.聽聽and other Ukrainian territory seized by Russia, but Trump considers that demand to be unrealistic.
Russia since seized Ukrainian territory in the Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.
