The latter: US and British officials have disputed the allegations. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the United States had seen a “small number” of Russian forces withdraw from Kyiv, but it was “too early” to say whether the withdrawal would be significant. Russian units were being reorganized and resupplied in Russia and Belarus due to heavy losses, the British intelligence service said on Wednesday. Photo: UK Department of Defense / Twitter What they say: “We believe that this is a repositioning, not a real withdrawal, and that we should all be ready to watch a major offensive against other parts of Ukraine,” Kirby said, noting the growing Russian activity in the eastern Donbas region.
“Russia has failed in its goal of occupying Kyiv. It has failed in its goal of subjugating Ukraine. But they can still bring enormous barbarism to the country,” he added.
Why it matters: Russia’s announcement came after several hours of peace talks in Istanbul that both Russian and Ukrainian negotiators described as constructive. Situation: A senior US defense official told reporters on Monday that Russia had made no progress in its attacks on Kyiv and Chernihiv and had set up “defensive positions” in some areas as Ukrainian forces launched counterattacks.
Top Russian military officials said last week that the Moscow operation was entering a “new phase” focusing on the “liberation” of the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine, where Russian-backed separatists have been waging a low-level uprising for years. Some military experts warn that Russia could use the ceasefire as an opportunity to resupply its troops and reorient its strategy after failing to achieve many of its military objectives in the first month of the war.
The big picture: The Turkish Foreign Minister, who helped mediate the talks, said Tuesday that he had made the most significant progress to date.
“I will not read anything until I see what their actions are. We will see if they follow what they are proposing,” Biden said during a news conference on Tuesday afternoon. “In the meantime, we will continue to maintain strong sanctions,” Biden said. “We will continue to provide the Ukrainian army with the ability to defend itself. And we will continue to monitor closely what is happening.” Meanwhile, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson said that a ceasefire agreement would not be enough to lift sanctions on Russia, according to the BBC. This could be a key point of contention for the Kremlin.
What to watch out for: The Ukrainian delegation said in Istanbul that there had been no significant progress on the ceasefire or territorial disputes in Crimea and Donbass, but that it had proposed a future security arrangement that would now be reviewed by the Kremlin.
The two sides are likely to meet again in the next two weeks, said the chief negotiator of Ukraine. Russia’s chief negotiator has said his side is ready to speed up the meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky if their foreign ministers can agree on a peace deal. Zelensky has been calling for such a meeting for weeks, but Putin has not yet agreed or publicly endorsed any peace proposal.
It is worth noting: The Ukrainian side said that the proposed security guarantees in case Ukraine is attacked again are based on the NATO mutual defense clause.
Countries such as the United States, Canada, China, France, Germany, Israel, Turkey and the United Kingdom will launch direct diplomatic consultations and, if unsuccessful, will take steps such as supplying weapons and maintaining a no-fly zone. Mykhailo Podolyak, Ukraine’s chief negotiator, said Ukraine had already received “positive responses” from some of those countries.
Between the lines: Countries, including the US, would be reluctant to explicitly pledge to intervene militarily to defend Ukraine. Editor’s note: This story and title have been updated with additional comments from US and UK officials.
