(Alliance News) - European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is due to meet US President Donald Trump, her spokeswoman said on Saturday, following a brief exchange between the two leaders on the sidelines of Pope Francis' funeral service in the Vatican.

"In their brief exchange, President von der Leyen and President Trump agreed to meet," the spokeswoman said, without providing further details as to when or where.

The meeting would be the first EU-US meeting at the top level since Trump took office in January and comes after attempts from Brussels to engage with Washington as relations between the two hit a sudden low.

The new US administration has triggered a trade war, slapping tariffs on EU imports. Trump is also seeking to persuade Kyiv to make extensive concessions in a hasty bid to end the Russian war.

In the trade dispute, the EU seeks to persuade Washington to drop the tariffs, which Brussels views as unjustified and incompatible with World Trade Organization, WTO, regulations. Otherwise, it has threatened to retaliate with countertariffs.

Earlier this month, Trump announced the US was imposing blanket tariffs of at least 10% on all imports to the country, plus additional levies for a host of trading partners, triggering significant turbulence in the stock and financial markets.

While many of the planned tariffs have been suspended for 90 days to allow for trade negotiations, special tariffs of up to 145% remain in place on Chinese goods. Beijing has retaliated by announcing tariffs of up to 125% on US products.

Trump's tariffs, with the stated aim of bringing manufacturing jobs back to the US and correcting alleged trade imbalances, are driving people worldwide to rethink their relations with Washington and continue to cause deep economic uncertainty.

source: dpa

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