One leader had arrived in the Vietnamese city by armored train and motorcade. The other had come by plane.

Then it was time to begin looking for a path out of decades of conflict. They didn’t find it.

On Thursday, the talks in Hanoi between President Trump and North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, finished early with an announcement that no deal had been reached. Photographers had been documenting the summit meeting for days, from the preparations to the abrupt end. Among them was Doug Mills, our White House photographer.

Here are some of their best images from the event.

Thursday