Inside the soaring nave of St. Peter’s Basilica on Saturday, the quiet hush of world leaders paying respects to the late Pope Francis was briefly interrupted by a flurry of activity in a secluded corner near the entrance doors.

The United States has been pushing Ukraine to accept a peace plan that seems in part a gift to Moscow. But the short meeting of the leaders, and subsequent comments, appeared to be a change in tone.

Premier Giorgia Meloni has said she would never have sought to crash the historic meeting between US President Donald Trump and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in St Peter's Basilica before Pope Francis' funeral on Saturday.