Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky met briefly at Pope Francis's funeral, marking their first encounter since a disastrous White House clash as the US president pushes the Ukrainian to make a peace deal with Russia. The White House said that the pair had a 'very productive' meeting, and that more details would follow. 'President Trump and President Zelensky met privately today and had a very productive discussion,' said White House communications director Steven Cheung. Trump was rubbing shoulders with dozens of world leaders at St Peter's Basilica in Rome keen to bend his ear on the tariffs he has unleashed and other subjects. But it was the meeting with Zelensky that drew the most interest as the US leader pushes the Ukrainian to make a peace deal with Russia. Body language expert Judi James told MailOnline: 'This is phenomenally intense-looking body language, made all the more surreal by the setting it's occurring in. 'Their poses here make them look like two men hunched over a game of chess, plotting and competing,' although here, she said, 'it's the fate of the world they are haggling over.' 'The horn-locking positioning of the heads could look sinister, suggesting conflict, but the close proximity of the two men here and the mirrored positions seems to weigh the balance in the direction of moving to agreement rather than conflict.' The two leaders met briefly on the sidelines of the funeral before it started, a spokesman for the Ukrainian presidency said. 'The meeting took place and is already over,' Zelensky's spokesman Sergiy Nykyforov told journalists without providing further detail. Trump and Zelensky, both accompanied by their wives, sat in the front row of the funeral in St Peter's Square but were separated by nearly a dozen leaders. Zelensky glanced Trump's way but they were not seen to meet in public. Both sides had kept the prospects of a meeting vague ahead of the funeral with Trump saying only it was 'possible'. Tensions have been high since Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated Zelensky in the Oval Office on February 28, calling him ungrateful for the billions of dollars of US military assistance given since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Trump, while calling on President Vladimir Putin to stop Russia's attacks on Ukraine, has recently blamed Zelensky for the war and the continuing bloodshed. He has also pushed Zelensky to accept previously unpalatable concessions such as acknowledging that Crimea, which Moscow seized from Ukraine in 2014, will remain in Russian hands under any deal to stop the conflict. 'When they fell out in the Oval office there was a physical response of aggressive arousal with Trump in particular looking keen to register physical dominance,' James assessed. But today, she said, 'both men here seem more intent in looking like physical and status equals'. 'Trump's feet are pushed under his chair, and he is on his toes, suggesting a desire to move and keep flexible in his discussion. 'His hands are clasped and his lips pursed to suggest a desire to listen. But Zelensky's feet are pushed out and planted flat on the floor, hinting at a more stubborn approach. 'However, his cupped hands suggest a desire to persuade, with his raised brows suggesting he's keen to make a point.' Arriving in Rome late Friday to attend the funeral of Pope Francis, Trump pushed for Russian and Ukrainian leaders to meet after what he said was progress in talks. 'They are very close to a deal, and the two sides should now meet, at very high levels, to 'finish it off',' he posted on his Truth Social platform. 'Most of the major points are agreed to,' he said. Putin on Friday meanwhile discussed the 'possibility' of direct talks with Ukraine in a meeting with US envoy Steve Witkoff. But Zelensky again rejected suggestions that Ukraine give up Crimea, and Witkoff's meeting with Putin came just after a top Russian general was killed in a car bomb attack outside Moscow. An increasingly frustrated Trump last week threatened to walk away from peace efforts if he does not see progress towards a ceasefire. Trump last year promised to end the Ukraine war within 24 hours if elected president, though he said in a Time magazine interview this week that he was speaking 'in jest'. The US president has been critical of Ukraine for, in his opinion, putting obstacles in the way of a ceasefire. Ukraine has asked for security guarantees to stop Russia reopening the conflict at a later date, and has drawn a red line around ceding territory to its belligerent invader. But Trump directed his ire towards Moscow earlier this week as Russian attacks on Kyiv killed at least 12 people - the deadliest such attack since last July. 'I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP!' he wrote. The attacks also forced Zelensky to return to Kyiv, cutting short an overseas summit with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. The Kremlin on Friday then accused Ukraine of being behind a car explosion in the Moscow region, which killed a senior military official. Footage showed a powerful blast destroying a Volkswagen Golf at around 10.40am local time (7.40am GMT), which reports said 'threw the general several metres away'. Russian investigators confirmed the death of Yaroslav Moskalik, deputy head of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces. Nobody has yet claimed responsibility for what appeared to be a deliberate attack. But the Kremlin accused Ukraine of being behind the attack, saying that if Ukrainian involvement is confirmed, it would be a sign of Kyiv's 'barbaric' nature and suggesting Ukraine was 'escalating' in an effort to ruin ceasefire talks. 'There are reasons to believe that Ukraine's special services were involved in the murder,' Russia's foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement, without providing evidence. Russia's Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, said earlier today that Moscow was 'ready to reach a deal' with the mediating United States to end the war in Ukraine, adding that some elements of a proposed deal still need to be 'fine tuned'. Kyiv's mayor Vitali Klitschko broke ranks in suggesting that Ukraine may have to 'temporarily' cede territory for a deal to be made. The Kremlin will be seeking to appease the US with a show of good faith after the Trump administration threatened to walk away from its intermediary role earlier this week, unless the two sides can come to an agreement.