Russian military says it will ‘drastically’ cut back operations near Kyiv as Moscow hints at climbdown

Peace talks are being held in Turkey

Russia has announced that it will "drastically" cut down its military activity around Kyiv and Chernihiv following peace talks in Istanbul. Diplomats in Istanbul are currently embroiled in negotiations, with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan calling for peace and mediating the proceedings. [caption id="attachment_326259" align="alignnone" width="2048"] Alexander Fomin/Via Getty[/caption] A translated message from Russia's Alexander Fomin, the Deputy Defence Minister, reads: "Due to the fact that negotiations over an agreement on Ukraine's neutrality and non-nuclear status and security guarantees (for Ukraine) are moving into a practical stage, and taking into consideration the principles discussed during today's meeting, the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation has taken the decision to drastically reduce combat operations in the Kyiv and Chernihiv areas in order to boost mutual trust and create the necessary conditions for further negotiations and for the signing of the aforementioned agreement." According to the BBC, Fomin later said the move was to hopefully build towards a signed agreement between the two nations, which he described as the "ultimate goal." https://twitter.com/AJEnglish/status/1508794944202416132 Reports say that Ukraine has agreed to operate on "neutral status", providing certain security measures are guaranteed. However, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that he was under strict orders that "we do not trade people, land or sovereignty." Russian state news agency Ria Novosti also released images of the negotiations, where Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich was also pictured alongside a spokesperson for the Turkish President. https://twitter.com/rianru/status/1508707392753655809?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1508707392753655809%7Ctwgr%5Ehb_2_8%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.co.uk%2Fnews%2Fworld-europe-60912474 While it's understood that Abramovich played some part in moving peace talks along, Ukraine's UK ambassador Vadym Prystaiko could not have made himself any clearer. "I have no idea what Mr Abramovich is claiming or doing. He is not a part of the negotiation team," he told the BBC. "I don't know if he's buying his way out somehow or if he's really useful, that's very difficult to tell." https://twitter.com/mrsorokaa/status/1508791957430194177 According to negotiators, there is now enough material to warrant a meeting between Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said that today's talks showed promise but warned that "more difficult issues" lie ahead. Related links:

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