Colombian President Juan Manual Santos traveled to Ecuador on Monday to meet with Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in an attempt to ease tension between their two countries.

The Associated Press reports the two presidents met for five hours in Ecuador's capital to discuss the Colombian-Venezuelan border conflict. The crisis began when President Maduro made the decision to close Venezuela's border with Colombia and to deport some 15,000 Colombian migrants in the last couple of weeks.

Maduro and Santos met with Rafael Correa, president of Ecuador and pro tempore head of Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac), and Tábare Vasquéz, president of Uruguay and pro tempore head of the Union of South American States (Unasur).

Despite prior concerns from Santos on the futility of meeting with Maduro, some progress was made when the two countries agreed to redeploy previously withdrawn ambassadors to their posts. However, the leaders did not come to a compromise on reopening the border checkpoints. Their respective ministers will meet on Wednesday in Caracas.

Afterward, Santos vowed to address Venezuela's concerns, but asked that Colombian migrants be treated with greater respect.

"We are united by a fight against criminal gangs, smugglers, drug traffickers, lawlessness and we also united in a common purpose of bringing welfare to the inhabitants of the border on both sides and working together, respecting our differences, I think we can succeed," said Santos, according to a press release. He then called the two countries, "brother nations."

Maduro accused Colombian migrants of smuggling and depleting Venezuela's market in the economically unstable nation. His actions alienated much of the country's Colombian community, and 16,000 additional migrants fled in fear that soldiers would begin to expel Colombians indiscriminately.

Although the deportations have recently come to a halt, there is still much tension between the two nations' governments. Maduro and Santos have been openly critical of one another, with Maduro accusing Santos of being complicit in an alleged U.S. conspiracy to overthrow Venezuela's socialist government.

Santos has in turn condemned Maduro's socialist revolution as self-destructive and has accused him of using the same military tactics utilized by Nazi shock troops.

While President Maduro's actions have been heavily criticized by human rights organizations, some also acknowledge that Venezuela's concerns about smuggling are valid. Venezuela estimates that as much as 40 percent of its market goods have been smuggled across the western border to Colombia by gangs who then sell the goods at an inflated price.