Finnish President Alexander Stubb spoke with US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania Trump before the funeral of Pope Francis on Saturday.
After the Pope’s death on Easter Monday, Stubb said that Francis "will be remembered for his work against poverty and social injustice," adding that "his legacy will comfort those in mourning". The funeral Mass for Pope Francis took place in St Peter’s Square in the Vatican.
Stubb and Trump were seated on adjacent benches at the funeral, with a narrow aisle between them.
Seated on the other side of Stubb was French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife.
Heads of state are seated in alphabetical order in French: États-Unis, Finlande, France. French is the traditional language of diplomacy, regardless of the country.
A month earlier, Stubb and Trump spent most of a day together at the latter's resort in Florida, playing together on a team that won a local golf tournament. Stubb was one of the few European leaders to be invited to meet with Trump during the 100 days of his second term.
Shortly after the late-March visit, Stubb called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to brief him on the situation.
Top leaders meet at funeral
Before Saturday’s funeral, Trump met with Zelensky one-on-one for about 15 minutes inside St Peter's Basilica. The two were joined by Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Zelensky’s spokesperson made the announcement, but did not provide any details about the content or results of the meeting. A White House spokesperson described the meeting as "productive".
Washington has been pushing for peace to end Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, but has proposed terms broadly in line with Russia's goals.
According to CNN, Trump also "engaged briefly" at the funeral with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, with whom he had not spoken since returning to office.
