The French president was sidelined during a meeting in the Vatican, according to video footage
US President Donald Trump allegedly told his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, to step aside before proceeding to a one-on-one conversation with Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky, according to a professional lip reader cited by British media.
The impromptu meeting took place on the sidelines of Pope Francis’ funeral on Saturday. Footage from the Vatican showed Zelensky walking toward the seating area with Trump, glancing back several times, seemingly expecting the French leader to join. Three chairs were set up, suggesting plans for a three-way discussion.
As the French president approached, Zelensky greeted him warmly with a smile and a hand gesture. However, just moments later, a staff member discreetly removed the third chair. Footage showed Trump gesturing firmly, signaling that the conversation would proceed strictly between him and Zelensky, while Macron eventually stepped back.
Speaking to The Sun on Sunday, Nicola Hickling, a British entrepreneur specializing in lipreading and expert witness reports, described the exchange.
“Donald reaches his hands out to both of them and brings them towards him,” she said. Trump then reportedly told Macron: “You are not in the right here, I need you to do me a favor, you should not be here.”
According to Hickling, Zelensky then “nods in agreement and the vicar who is in front of the camera turns his head to the side looking worried at what he has heard between them.”
French diplomatic sources have played down the frosty exchange, insisting that Macron had no intention of joining the discussion. “People have got their brains in a twist over the third chair. (It) was supposed to be for the interpreter, but in the end it turned into a tete-a-tete,” an unnamed source told The Telegraph.
The brief meeting in Vatican marked the first face-to-face encounter between Trump and Zelensky since their clash at the White House in February. Their discussion took place as Trump has been pressing Kiev to accept what the media described as his “final offer” to end hostilities. According to reports, Washington’s proposal seeks to freeze the conflict along the current front lines and recognize Crimea as part of Russia — something Zelensky has repeatedly rejected.
While Trump is eager to secure a ceasefire as soon as possible to deliver on his campaign promise, Macron has consistently insisted that any peace deal must guarantee Ukraine’s “sovereignty and territorial integrity,” contributing to rising tensions between Washington and Paris.
Meanwhile, Moscow has once again reiterated its readiness for discussions with Kiev without preconditions. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed the topic was brought up by Russian President Vladimir Putin during a meeting with Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, on Friday.
