On the thirty-fourth day of a war that had already uprooted so many lives, Russia's deputy defence minister said Moscow would sharply reduce its military activity around Kyiv and Chernihiv, following the first face-to-face talks between the two sides in Istanbul. It was a small but rare gesture in an endless contest of force and doubt, offered as a step toward trust rather than victory. Yet the pledge covered only two northern regions, and the eastern and south still burned, so the hope it carried was fragile and conditional.
Russia Pledges to Scale Back Kyiv, Chernihiv Operations as Istanbul Talks Open Door to Putin-Zelenskyy Meeting
On the thirty-fourth day of a war that had already uprooted so many lives, Russia's deputy defence minister said Moscow would sharply reduce its military activity around Kyiv and Chernihiv, following the first face-to-face talks between the two sides in Istanbul. It was a small but rare gesture in an endless contest of force and doubt, offered as a step toward trust rather than victory. Yet the pledge covered only two northern regions, and the eastern and south still burned, so the hope it carried was fragile and conditional.
On Tuesday, the thirty-fourth day of the war, Russia's Deputy Defence Minister Alexander Fomin announced that Moscow would sharply cut back military activity around Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv. He spoke after delegations from Russia and Ukraine met in Istanbul, and the announcement was the most tangible sign yet of movement toward a peace deal, though it was framed as a step to build trust for future talks.
The pledge had a clear limit. Fomin said nothing about eastern and southern Ukraine, where Russian offensives continue. Russia's chief negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky, linked the move to a second step: a Putin-Zelenskyy meeting, but only once foreign ministers had initialled a peace treaty.
Ukraine's negotiator, David Arakhamia, said the results were enough to justify a leaders' meeting, a possibility Russia had dismissed just a day earlier. The talks were the first in-person session between the sides, and there was no handshake. In Washington, officials were far more guarded, saying Putin did not appear willing to compromise.
The next steps are now clear: whether the foreign ministers actually produce a treaty, and whether the promised pullback truly appears on the ground while fighting in the east and south goes on.
On Tuesday, the 34th day of the war, Russia's Deputy Defence Minister Alexander Fomin announced that Moscow would sharply cut back military activity around Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv. He spoke after delegations from Russia and Ukraine met in Istanbul, and the announcement was the most tangible sign yet of movement toward a peace deal.
Fomin framed the decision as a confidence-building step. It was made, he said, to increase mutual trust and create conditions for further negotiations, with the ultimate goal of agreeing and signing an accord. He said activity in the Kyiv and Chernihiv directions would be reduced radically and by a large margin.
The pledge had a clear limit. Fomin did not mention eastern and southern Ukraine, where Russian forces are also conducting major offensives but have struggled to make headway. The reduction applies to two areas, not the whole front.
Russia's chief negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky, described the move as one of two de-escalation steps. The second concerned the presidents. Russia, he said, would agree to a meeting between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but only on a specific condition: it would take place if and when the countries' foreign ministers had initialled a peace treaty, with the meeting happening simultaneously.
Ukraine's top negotiator, David Arakhamia, said the day's results were sufficient for a meeting at the leaders' level. AFP noted that this raised a possibility Russia had dismissed as recently as Monday, when it called such a meeting counterproductive. Kyiv's negotiators also called for an international accord to guarantee Ukrainian security.
The talks in Turkey were the first face-to-face session between the two sides, according to Reuters, and there was no handshake between the negotiators. Media reports said another round was expected on Tuesday. Medinsky called the talks meaningful. In Washington, the White House said President Joe Biden would discuss the war in a phone call with European leaders.
American officials were notably more guarded. A senior State Department official, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said that everything the official had seen indicated Putin was not willing to compromise at this point. The official added that they had no good insight into how far the West should go in offering off-ramps that would undercut Ukraine's sovereignty or the decisions Zelenskyy would have to make.
Biden, for his part, said Monday he would make no apologies and was not walking anything back regarding his remark that Putin cannot remain in power. He said he was expressing the moral outrage he felt over the way Putin is dealing and the actions of this man.
What to watch now is whether the foreign ministers actually initial a treaty, since Russia has made that the trigger for any leaders' meeting, and whether the promised reduction around Kyiv and Chernihiv shows up on the ground while fighting in the east and south continues.
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