European leaders have accused Putin of dragging his feet in peace efforts while he tries to press his bigger army’s battlefield initiative and capture more Ukrainian land.

The announcement was made ahead of an expected prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia on Friday – an outcome of last week’s face-to-face talks in Turkey, the first time the two countries have held direct talks at any level in three years.

Trump still wants to establish closer ties with Putin, and the White House will likely revisit the possibility of a meeting before long.

The acknowledgment was what European leaders had long believed about Putin—but it was the first time they were hearing it from Trump.