Franco Ordonez

President Trump says he's dispatching his special envoy Steve Witkoff to Moscow to meet with President Putin, while sending Army Secretary Dan Driscoll to meet with the Ukrainians to work out the final details.

It's just the latest iteration of yo-yoing proposal that Trump has presented as he tries to cement his peacemaking legacy.

Ivo Daldr, a former U.S.

ambassador to NATO, says all Trump wants is a deal.

But Daldr says the problem is that while the U.S.

agreed to plans with both Russia and Ukraine, Russia and Ukraine have not reached an agreement on any plans with each other.

Franco Ordonez, NPR News.

We're definitely closer to military intervention.

Good morning, Steve.

I mean, well, it gives the U.S.

expanded authority to take military action against Maduro's government.

Now, look, this may be kind of the most over-the-top way to try and scare Maduro to leave on his own, but

More and more former officials and international experts that I talk to see the administration potentially gearing up for some type of military strike in Venezuela.

The administration named Cartel de los Soles as a foreign terrorist organization and Maduro as its leader.

Now, the U.S.

says the group is made up of military officers.

Venezuela says it's not even an actual group.

It gives the U.S.

expanded power to take military action, as I was saying.

And I was talking with Ian Bremmer, who leads the political risk consulting firm Eurasia Group, and he told me that the White House has this kind of carrot and stick approach going with Maduro.