The White House did not say when the two men met, but it appears likely it was before the funeral started, before the president left for the funeral services a little after 9 a.m. in Rome. A White House spokesman, Stephen Cheung, called it a 'very productive discussion,' but gave no details. The meeting in Rome came at a critical moment, just as the United States had presented a suggested plan for a cease-fire in Ukraine's war with Russia and a postwar plan that would give Russia effective control over all of the lands it has illegally seized since the invasion began three years ago. The plan includes a major reversal of American policy: a formal American recognition that Crimea is Russian territory, even if Ukraine and the rest of Europe maintain that it remains part of Ukraine.