How Trump, Putin Reached a New Make-or-Break Moment on Ukraine

President Trump has long believed the crux of foreign policy is two leaders in a room making historic deals.

- Alexander Ward, Alex Leary & Matthew Luxmoore

Pulling off a cease-fire in Ukraine with Russian President Vladimir Putin would be the kind of diplomatic coup he has long craved.

It remains a long shot. The leaders could meet as soon as next week to pursue a peace agreement following months of maneuvering. But their approaches remain at odds. Trump has urged Putin to stop the war but has shown little interest in the specifics of a deal. The Kremlin boss has rebuffed all appeals to halt the fighting, except on his terms.

After months of failed efforts to forge a deal, first by coercing Kyiv and later by wooing Putin, Trump has come around to the belief that heightened economic pressure on Moscow might be the only way to get an agreement.

To sway Putin, Trump has embarked on a more confrontational course, threatening sanctions on countries that purchase Russian energy. He targeted India, a major buyer of Russian oil, with 50% tariffs on its goods shipped to the U.S.

Other nations that import Russian oil and gas, including China, could see their duties raised by Trump's Friday deadline for an agreement.

But even Trump seemed less than optimistic Thursday following talks earlier in the week between his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and Putin in Moscow.

"We're going to see what he has to say," Trump told reporters of Putin. "That's going to be up to him."

The White House is working on arranging a meeting with Putin but would like a three-way meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. "President Trump would like to meet with both President Putin and President Zelensky because he wants this brutal war to end," she said.

The Russian leader said he is only open "in principle" to talks with Zelensky. "We are still far from creating such conditions," said Putin, who has frequently called into question Zelensky's legitimacy.