Trump Pursues Three-Step Push to Bring Putin and Zelensky to Same Table

U.S. President Donald Trump is pursuing a three-step plan aimed at jump-starting negotiations to end the Russia-Ukraine war, according to administration officials familiar with the effort. Step one, completed last Friday, involved a bilateral meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin to outline possible confidence-building measures. The second step, slated for today, calls for a similar one-on-one session with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. If both leaders agree to preliminary terms, the White House intends to bring Putin and Zelensky together for direct talks, the officials said. Advisers describe the face-to-face meeting between the two wartime presidents as Trump’s immediate objective; a formal cease-fire is not a prerequisite at this stage. “Everything else is foreplay,” one adviser remarked, underscoring the administration’s view that personal diplomacy is essential to breaking the deadlock.