Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov lauded U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday for saying that previous U.S. support of Ukraine's bid to join the NATO military alliance was a major cause of the war in Ukraine.

The meeting was the first time since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine that Russian and American delegations are known to have met face-to-face.

While U.S. officials characterized the talks as the first step in a peace deal, the Russians are portraying them as a way to end Moscow’s isolation.