<?xml version="1.0" encoding="US-ASCII"?>
<!-- Generated by Broadridge Transform (tm) - http://www.broadridge.com -->
<!-- Created: Fri Jun 26 21:18:18 UTC 2026 -->
<linkbase xmlns="http://www.xbrl.org/2003/linkbase" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.xbrl.org/2003/linkbase http://www.xbrl.org/2003/xbrl-linkbase-2003-12-31.xsd" xmlns:xbrldt="http://xbrl.org/2005/xbrldt">
  <roleRef xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="https://xbrl.sec.gov/vip/2026/vip-2026.xsd#PortfolioCompanyOnly" roleURI="http://xbrl.sec.gov/vip/role/PortfolioCompanyOnly"/>
  <arcroleRef xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="http://www.xbrl.org/2005/xbrldt-2005.xsd#dimension-default" arcroleURI="http://xbrl.org/int/dim/arcrole/dimension-default"/>
  <arcroleRef xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="http://www.xbrl.org/2005/xbrldt-2005.xsd#dimension-domain" arcroleURI="http://xbrl.org/int/dim/arcrole/dimension-domain"/>
  <arcroleRef xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="http://www.xbrl.org/2005/xbrldt-2005.xsd#hypercube-dimension" arcroleURI="http://xbrl.org/int/dim/arcrole/hypercube-dimension"/>
  <arcroleRef xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="http://www.xbrl.org/2005/xbrldt-2005.xsd#domain-member" arcroleURI="http://xbrl.org/int/dim/arcrole/domain-member"/>
  <arcroleRef xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="http://www.xbrl.org/2005/xbrldt-2005.xsd#all" arcroleURI="http://xbrl.org/int/dim/arcrole/all"/>
  <definitionLink xlink:role="http://xbrl.sec.gov/vip/role/PortfolioCompanyOnly" xlink:type="extended">
    <loc xlink:type="locator" xlink:label="vip_AllPortfolioCompaniesMember" xlink:href="https://xbrl.sec.gov/vip/2026/vip-2026.xsd#vip_AllPortfolioCompaniesMember"/>
    <loc xlink:type="locator" xlink:label="cik0001048606_PutnamVTUSResearchFundClassIBMember" xlink:href="cik0001048606-20260626.xsd#cik0001048606_PutnamVTUSResearchFundClassIBMember"/>
<!-- [WMV7][PBMMX4dXx61REvPV5/o+QV8faC3qJ9yRVl2YwSg6BKqFkyAKl0wKSW3nNyUkqV1ROHEhWAEDashDjwiUOQnxuAn7laMpJbzSW1Hh0gEtcsh3iOSmGvuSY6WTClVM2SxwckRS+okI0D3kj6a61abjGg5obZjtenF4ae+R2SUwZJKFm1ANVV1xUTOTKN5s0Co0qHJADFp4NifD4T8MkOT+7+dxY31p6KIcn4JKGcL7TDe/aMtSrzZQjtLd+eOj075mWpPveBHALpyOviwn/AZrk4ZG4oc4W0IV9oYoy3isQPFTFwsaGSU+1eWc5xpfo32n2OLavw3FmJMWk9KNcmJeMmTYeqnd7yXBAERTSxWN0ixk4I4LXsVleoLyXlVZhwl5zijI0KepPfSjGusTlT2d2L3HOSQ=] CSR-->
    <definitionArc xlink:type="arc" xlink:arcrole="http://xbrl.org/int/dim/arcrole/domain-member" xlink:from="vip_AllPortfolioCompaniesMember" xlink:to="cik0001048606_PutnamVTUSResearchFundClassIBMember" order="1" xbrldt:closed="true"/>
  </definitionLink>
</linkbase>
