Life.ru calls the US steps "Trump's plan to end the conflict"; Censor.NET calls them "three steps to de-escalate"

One interview, two names for it. Volodymyr Zelensky told Axios that the Trump administration wants three steps. We do not hold the interview itself. Two outlets report it, and each gives the steps a different purpose.

The envoys. Life.ru cites the same interview. It says US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Vladimir Putin in Moscow and then told Zelensky they believe Putin is ready for more talks. Its headline says Zelensky was "struck" by their optimism. The text of the report does not support that.

The meeting. Censor.NET says the President's Office did not confirm media reports of a Ukraine–Russia–US meeting on an energy truce in New York today. Its headline goes further and says the office "refuted" them.

Moscow's line. Interfax reports that Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told journalists the "special military operation" "in no way hinders" the search for a long-term settlement.

Not settled. Whether any three-way meeting is scheduled. What the US steps contain in detail. Whether Moscow or Kyiv has accepted any of them. None of the reports we hold carries an answer from either government on the steps.

This story is about what the United States is asking Russia and Ukraine to do to wind down the war between them.

How it got here. Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 and backed armed separatists in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region. That began the war. On 24 February 2022 Russia launched a full-scale invasion. Moscow calls it a "special military operation". Since then the fighting has been concentrated in Ukraine's east and south, and both sides have struck the other's power plants, grid and ports.

Two of the three US steps come from earlier efforts. In July 2022 the UN and Turkey brokered the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which let Ukraine ship grain out of its ports. Russia left it in July 2023. In March 2025, after talks run by the United States, both sides said they would pause strikes on energy facilities. Each then accused the other of breaking the pause.

The actors. - Ukraine, led by President Volodymyr Zelensky, is the country that was invaded and is defending itself. - Russia, led by President Vladimir Putin, holds parts of Ukraine and says it will keep fighting while talks go on. - The United States has been Kyiv's biggest military backer. Since Donald Trump returned to the White House in January 2025, it has also tried to broker a settlement. It does that through envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

What is at stake. An energy truce would stop strikes on power supplies before winter. A grain corridor matters to Ukraine's economy and to countries that import its grain. A three-way meeting would put all three governments at one table.

Where it stands. The only account of the US steps we hold is Zelensky's, as reported from his Axios interview. Kyiv has not confirmed that a three-way meeting will take place. Russia's deputy foreign minister says the fighting will go on while a settlement is sought.