President Donald Trump told reporters on Friday that he will meet with Russian leader Vladimir Putin "as soon as we can set it up," as he seeks to broker a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia.
The American leader has vowed to bring a swift end to the fighting between Ukraine and Russia, which has gone on for over three years.
President Trump's announcement comes a day after Putin decided not to accept Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's invitation for a face-to-face meeting.
However, delegations involving officials from Ukraine, Russia, and Turkey met on Friday. The talks in Istanbul represent the first time government officials from Russia and Ukraine have met face-to-face.
The Associated Press reported that the two sides agreed to exchange 1,000 prisoners of war each. They also agreed to provide each other with detailed ceasefire proposals and a meeting by their heads of state, the AP reported.
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Zelenskyy said he would not directly participate in talks unless Putin was present.
President Trump indicated that Putin would not meet with Zelenskyy unless the American leader was on hand.
"They all said Putin was going and Zelensky was going. And I said, If I don't go, I guarantee Putin is not going, and he didn't go. And I understand that, but we're going to get it done," President Trump said on Friday.
President Trump added, "We're going to get it done."
Before the Ukraine-Russia-Turkey forum, a U.S. delegation led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with foreign officials representing Ukraine and Turkey. Rubio would not answer questions on how that meeting went.
