WASHINGTON, August 18. /TASS/. US President Donald Trump is pushing for a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Zelensky, believing it could open a path to peace in Ukraine, the Axios news portal reported.

Citing unnamed aides to the American leader, the outlet writes that Trump’s "sole short-term goal" regarding Ukraine is to arrange face-to-face talks between Putin and Zelensky. "Everything else is foreplay. Everything is to get to that moment for peace," a Trump adviser said. Sources told Axios that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White House special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump himself all expect a direct Putin-Zelensky meeting. "There's a way to make a deal: get the buyer and the seller in the same room at the same time discussing it. What we're trying to figure out is if both sides really want a deal and what the contours look like," said one of Trump’s advisers familiar with the Ukraine negotiations.

According to Axios, the US has a "three-step process" on Ukraine: first, coordinate steps for peace during talks between the Russian and American leaders, followed by a Trump-Zelensky meeting. Washington envisions the culmination of this process as direct Putin-Zelensky negotiations with US participation.

The article also notes that US intelligence assessments of the conflict in Ukraine vary. One conclusion suggests that Russian forces could gain full control of Donbass by October, Axios reports. Other assessments indicate that fighting will remain hard, with no conclusive outcome in sight.

Additionally, one Trump adviser reportedly confirmed that Washington’s security guarantees to Kiev could include the deployment of US troops to Ukraine, while another said it was not clear. "We won't negotiate in the press," the latter official added.