Russia and Ukraine engaged in peace talks on Friday, marking the first time that has happened since the war began in February 2022.
Both sides only engaged for two hours and largely only agreed to a prisoner swap, where Kyiv and Moscow would exchange 1,000 war prisoners. It was described as a “confidence-building measure” by the mediating parties.
But delegates from Ukraine, Russia, U.S. and Turkey, where the talks were held, didn’t make much progress — as President Donald Trump predicted on Thursday. Here’s what happened.
Trump on Russia-Ukraine ceasefire negotiations
The U.S. president said he thought it was essential for he and Russian President Vladimir Putin to meet face-to-face to come anywhere close to striking a peace deal.
Trump said he was willing to fly to Turkey, extending his trip to the Middle East by a day, but he changed his mind after news came out that Putin planned to skip the talks.
“Look, nothing’s going to happen until Putin and I get together, OK?” Trump said aboard the Air Force One, traveling from Qatar to the United Arab Emirates.
“He wasn’t going if I wasn’t there and I don’t believe anything’s going to happen, whether you like it or not, until he and I get together,” he added. “But we’re going to have to get it solved because too many people are dying.”
On Friday morning, he said he wanted to set up a meeting with Putin as soon as possible.
“We’re going to do it,” Trump said. “I actually think it’s time for us to do it.”
The president also suggested the world could be “a much, much safer place” in a few weeks.
What happened during the talks
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also wasn’t in attendance but sent high level Cabinet members to the meeting, unlike Moscow, which opted for lower-level officials.
In addition to the prisoner exchange, Moscow and Kyiv also agreed to share detailed ceasefire proposals and meet again, according to Hakan Fidan, who opened the talks, in a post on X said.
The details of the prisoner exchange haven’t been announced.
As Kyiv Independent reported, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, who led the Ukrainian delegation, told reporters, “We know the date, but we’re not going to say it yet,” he said.
Moscow, Kyiv react to peace talks
Moscow seemed satisfied with the talks as a first step toward more conversations and noted Ukraine’s request for a meeting between the state heads.
“In general, we are satisfied with the result and are ready to continue contacts,” said Vladimir Medinsky, the head of Russia’s delegation, as per Reuters.
After the peace talks, Zelenskyy met with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Albania during a one-day summit. Together, they called Trump.
“Pressure on Russia must be maintained until Russia is ready to end the war,” Zelenskyy said in a post.
Starmer told reporters he sees closer alignment and coordination between Trump and European leaders.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Turkey
Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Fidan, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and an aide to Zelenskyy in Turkey on Thursday.
Rubio during his meetings shored up support for increased defense spending from NATO allies amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
In an appearance on Fox News, Rubio said NATO countries should agree to spend 5% of their GDP on defense by the next NATO summit in the Netherlands in June.
“I can tell you that we are heading for a summit in six weeks in which virtually every member of NATO will be at or above 2%, but more importantly, many of them will be over 4% and all will have agreed on a goal of reaching 5% over the next decade,” he told host Sean Hannity.