Russia to drastically reduce military activity near Kyiv

Ukrainian and Russian negotiators sat face-to-face for the first time in weeks on Tuesday in Turkey, resuming direct talks that Ukraine's government hopes will bring a ceasefire after more than a month of Vladimir Putin's brutal invasion. There appeared to be tangible progress, with Russia declaring that it would "drastically reduce" its offensive around Kyiv and another city "to increase mutual trust" and enable the talks to continue.

Ukrainian officials have been pushing for a ceasefire agreement to enable thousands of civilians to evacuate from besieged towns and cities that are still being bombed by Russian forces.

Russia's lead negotiator Vladimir Medinsky emerged from Tuesday's talks to say his country had received "a clearly formulated position from Ukraine," and that "the possibility of making peace will become closer" as the two sides continue to work quickly to reach compromises.

Ukrainian negotiators also indicated some progress as the two sides seek to hammer out mutual "security guarantees."

David Arahamia, one of the Ukrainian negotiators, declared a "first victory" merely by having the venue for the negotiations moved from Belarus, a Russian ally on Ukraine's northern border, to Turkey. "We see Turkey as one of our guarantor countries for Ukrainian safety."

But the most significant declaration after Tuesday's talks came from Moscow, where the ministry of defense issued a statement saying it would "reduce military activity" in order to "create the necessary conditions for further negotiations."

Ukraine's leaders have made it clear since last week that they're willing to accept a formal neutral status for the country, ruling out NATO membership and accepting some constraints on its military, in exchange for an end to the war.

"Due to the fact that negotiations on the preparation of the treaty on the neutrality and non-nuclear status of Ukraine, as well as on the provision of security guarantees to Ukraine, are moving into practice, taking into account the principles discussed during today's meeting, by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation — in order to increase mutual trust and create the necessary conditions for further negotiations and achievement of the ultimate goal… a decision was made to radically, at times, reduce military activity in the Kyiv and Chernihiv directions," Russia's Deputy Minister of Defense Alexander Fomin said.