ISTANBUL: Peace talks in Istanbul between Ukraine and Russia yielded progress on Tuesday as Moscow promised to scale back its military activity near the capital Kiev and the northern city of Chernihiv.
Russian and Ukrainian delegations met in the Turkish city for face-to-face negotiations, more than a month after Russia launched an air and ground attack that has devastated towns and cities across the country and caused nearly 4 million people to flee.
The representatives met at the Dolmabahce Presidential Office, on the banks of the Bosphorus, for their first in-person talks in more than two weeks.
But after more than four hours, the head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, emerged and told reporters the discussions had been “constructive.
President Vladimir Putin’s envoy also said Russia was ready to take military and political “steps to de-escalate the conflict.”
Ukraine’s “proposals will be examined in the near future, submitted to the president and we will respond accordingly,” Medinsky said.
Shortly before Medinsky spoke, Russian Deputy Defence Minister Alexander Fomin announced a significant reduction in “military activities” near Kiev and Chernihiv.
Russian troops have struggled to advance upon the centre of two northern cities due to fierce Ukrainian resistance.
If Russia follows through and the attacks are reduced, it would mark an important step on the path towards ending the war Russia launched on February 24.
A broader cessation of hostilities was still out of reach, Ukraine said.
Securing international security guarantees for Ukraine remains a key issue before Kiev can agree to a ceasefire, Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said.
He said Nato members Britain, Turkey, France, Germany and the United States could serve as guarantor states in case of a possible peace deal with Russia.
Kiev also offered to extend negotiations on the political status of Russian-invaded Crimea for as long as 15 years, he tweeted.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addressed the participants, who were seated across from each other at a long table, at the outset on Tuesday morning.
He once again appealed for a ceasefire and for Putin and Zelensky to come to the table themselves, although Kiev and Moscow have indicated more progress needs to be made and that such a high-stakes meeting could still be far off.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry said the Istanbul talks had concluded on Tuesday and were not expected to continue on Wednesday.
Kiev wants a withdrawal of Russian troops and security guarantees. Moscow is demanding Ukraine renounce attempts to join Nato, recognise breakaway eastern Ukrainian separatist regions as independent and recognise the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, annexed in 2014, as part of Russia.
Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich was among those at the Istanbul talks.
The owner of the Chelsea football club was slapped with British and EU sanctions as part of the Western response to Russia’s attack of Ukraine. During the past month, the influential oligarch has been shuttling between venues and cities.
Abramovich was reportedly among three people who suffered symptoms consistent with chemical weapons poisoning after an earlier round of talks, the Wall Street Journal and the investigative journalism outlet Bellingcat reported on Monday.
But on Tuesday Kiev and Moscow threw cold water on the explosive report. Zelensky’s adviser Podolyak suggested it was conspiracy theory while the Kremlin said it was “definitely not true” and “part of an information war.”
Meanwhile, Russia continued its hostilities against Ukraine.
In the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolayiv, the regional administration building was attacked by the Russian army, presumably with a missile.
According to the local civil defence, three people were killed and at least 22 others injured in Tuesday’s attack.
“They hit my study, the bastards,” regional governor Vitaliy Kim said on Telegram. He showed a photo of a huge hole and debris in the administration building.
It is impossible to independently verify information from either side.
Russia claims it is only targeting military sites, even though there are daily confirmed reports of the destruction of bridges, schools, hospitals and residential neighbourhoods.
In an address to the Danish parliament on Tuesday, Zelensky demanded that Europe quickly end oil imports from Russia and drastically toughen trade and economic sanctions.
Zelensky spoke about the situation in the besieged port city of Mariupol, which has seen some of the worst violence in the war.
He condemned what was happening there as a crime against humanity and expressed frustration that the world has not directly intervened to stop the Russian attack.
Meanwhile, the Dutch, Belgian and Irish governments said they were expelling 42 Russian diplomats among the three of them.
The Netherlands expelled 17 Russian diplomats and Belgium 21. Both government cited espionage and threats to national security. Ireland ousted four from the country for activities not “in accordance with international standards of diplomatic behaviour.” – dpa