At Pope Francis’ funeral over the weekend, Estonian President Alar Karis caught a rare glimpse into U.S. President Donald Trump’s thinking on Ukraine — and, according to Karis, Trump believes peace could be right around the corner.
Seated next to Trump during the ceremony, Karis pressed the American leader not to abandon the Ukraine peace process. Trump, he said, assured him there’s no intention of bailing out, claiming that a resolution between Kyiv and Moscow was “quite close,” thanks in part to a recent face-to-face with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky.
“I didn’t press him for too many details about what came out of that meeting,” Karis admitted during an interview with Estonian broadcaster ERR. “But he seemed optimistic, and that counts for something.”
Their conversation didn’t stop there. Karis and Trump also tackled the thorny issue of frayed transatlantic relations — a subject Karis stressed matters just as much to Americans as it does to Europeans. Trump, for his part, reportedly agreed, acknowledging the importance of keeping those ties strong. “Now the trick,” Karis quipped, “is figuring out how to make things better than they are today.”
Meanwhile, not long after his brief encounter with Zelensky and the solemn funeral proceedings, Trump took to Truth Social to vent frustration over Russia’s latest missile strikes in Ukraine. Blasting Moscow for targeting towns and cities “for no reason,” Trump floated the idea of slapping Russia with tougher penalties — hinting at “banking” and “secondary sanctions” as possible tools.
Moscow, for its part, has repeatedly insisted that its strikes are limited to military and strategic sites, denying accusations of attacks on civilian infrastructure. Yet after a short-lived Easter ceasefire, Russian forces ramped up long-range assaults on Ukrainian military and industrial hubs throughout the week.
Trump’s sharp words arrived just as Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, reaffirmed Russia’s openness to “unconditional talks” with Kyiv during a Friday sit-down with Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff.
As it stands, despite fresh tensions on the ground, high-level talks are still inching forward — with Trump signaling he’s willing to stay in the game to see a deal through.
