Russia says it will drastically reduce attacks around Kyiv in major war retreat

Today’s talks in Istanbul were the first face-to-face meeting between the sides since March 10 and follows more than a month of fighting

Russia will drastically cut its military activity around Kyiv and Chernihiv in Ukraine, one of Vladimir Putin’s highest-ranked aides said today.

Deputy defence minister Alexander Fomin said the decision comes in the interest of pursuing more peace talks between the countries.

It comes amid hopes that a meeting between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy could be held in the coming days.

Ukrainian negotiators have proposed adopting neutral status with international guarantees to protect it from attack.

Negotiators said they would not join alliances or host bases of foreign troops – but would have their security guaranteed in a similar manner to the collective defence clause of NATO.

The countries identified to be allowed in facilitating these guarantees are Israel and NATO members Canada, Poland and Turkey.

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The proposal included a 15-year consultation period on the status of Russian-annexed Crimea and could come into force only in the event of a complete ceasefire, Ukrainian negotiators have said.

Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said he will be reporting the Ukrainian proposals to Putin.

Today’s talks in Istanbul were the first face-to-face meeting between the sides since March 10.

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Mr Fomin said: “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.”

It follows more than a month of fighting after Russain invaded Ukraine on February 24 and has struggled to capture any major city.

Ukrainian negotiator Oleksander Chaly said: “If we manage to consolidate these key provisions, and for us this is the most fundamental, then Ukraine will be in a position to actually fix its current status as a non-bloc and non-nuclear state in the form of permanent neutrality.

“We will not host foreign military bases on our territory, as well as deploy military contingents on our territory, and we will not enter into military-political alliances.”

Ukrainian negotiators also said they believe their proposals would be enough for Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to meet.

It comes Russian forces appear to have stalled in Kyiv as they continue to battle Ukraine’s fierce resistance.

The UK’s defence ministry said earlier that Ukrainian forces had succeeded in pushing back Russian troops from a number of positions.

In Chernihiv, the city remains under heavy shelling as the mayor estimates that 400 residents have been killed there since the war began.