President Donald Trump is taking a step back from direct negotiations to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, instead urging Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy to hold a bilateral meeting before he joins the talks.
According to senior administration officials, Trump believes the next stage toward peace rests with a face-to-face meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents. Only after such a meeting would he consider hosting a trilateral summit.
In a radio interview on Tuesday, Trump said he wanted to “see what happens” when Putin and Zelenskyy meet without him, describing the process of arranging that encounter as still underway. His comments mark a shift from his campaign trail pledge last year, when he claimed he could resolve the war in 24 hours.
Trump’s posture reflects a growing recognition that ending the nearly three-year-old conflict is more complex than expected. Despite recent meetings with Zelenskyy and European leaders in Washington, U.S. officials say there are still no firm plans for where or when a Putin-Zelenskyy summit could occur. The White House described Trump’s stance as a “wait-and-see approach.”
After his White House discussions, Trump spoke with Putin for roughly 40 minutes. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov later confirmed the two leaders agreed to appoint senior negotiators to explore direct Russia-Ukraine talks. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has expressed optimism that a bilateral meeting might take place within weeks, though Putin has so far resisted Zelenskyy’s repeated requests for direct talks.
Central to any potential agreement is the question of security guarantees for Ukraine. Trump has ruled out sending U.S. troops but has offered alternatives such as intelligence support or limited air operations.
His envoy, Steve Witkoff, previously said that Putin had tentatively accepted a U.S. security guarantee modeled on NATO’s Article 5, though doubts remain about Russia’s true willingness.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has even suggested Moscow itself should serve as a guarantor, a notion dismissed in Washington.
Meanwhile, Zelenskyy has put forward plans to strengthen Ukraine’s defenses, including a proposed $90 billion purchase of American weapons through Europe and expanded U.S. drone acquisitions. It is unclear how this aligns with Trump’s recently announced Ukraine arms package.
For now, the diplomatic push appears stalled. Trump has signaled he wants the warring leaders to test direct talks first, leaving his role in any eventual peace deal uncertain.
