But the two sides failed to broker a temporary cease-fire or a meeting between their two leaders, a sign of how far apart they remain on ending the conflict.

President Donald Trump has taken an intense personal interest in ending the war between Ukraine and Russia, recently suggesting that “nothing” will happen until he has an official meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Russia said on Friday that the first direct talks with Ukraine in more than three years had yielded a deal to swap 1,000 prisoners of war each soon and to resume talks after each side had set out its vision for a future ceasefire.