Talks have been held at a palace in Istanbul for more than a month on the biggest attack on a European nation since World War II, which has killed or injured thousands, forced nearly 4 million to flee abroad and hit the Russian economy with sanctions. The invasion has stopped on most fronts due to the fierce resistance of Ukrainian forces that have recaptured territories even when civilians are trapped in besieged cities. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register “In order to increase mutual trust and create the necessary conditions for further negotiations and the achievement of the ultimate goal of the agreement and the signing of (one) agreement, it was decided to radically reduce, by a large margin, military activity in the directions of Kiev and of Chernihiv. “Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin told reporters. He made no mention of other areas that have seen heavy fighting, such as around Mariupol in the southeast, Sumy and Kharkiv in the east, and Kherson and Mykolaiv in the south. “Ukrainians are not naive people,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said late Tuesday. “The Ukrainians have already learned during these 34 days of invasion, and the last eight years of the Donbas war, that the only thing they can trust is a concrete result.” GREAT OFFENSIVE POSSIBLE Russia has begun withdrawing very few troops from positions around Kyiv in a move that is more of a repositioning than a retreat or withdrawal from the war, the Pentagon said on Tuesday. “We should all be ready to watch a major offensive against other parts of Ukraine,” spokesman John Kirby told a news conference. “It does not mean that the threat to Kyiv is over.” “It is very likely that Russia will seek to divert combat power from the north in its offensive in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions to the east,” the Pentagon said in a statement. Reuters could not immediately confirm the allegations made by either side. The Moscow-backed self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine may consider joining Russia after taking control of the entire Donetsk region of Ukraine, according to its leader. Kyiv has said that any such move would have no legal basis. US President Joe Biden will hold talks with the leaders of France, Germany, Italy and Britain on Tuesday to discuss the latest developments in Ukraine, the White House said. French President Emmanuel Macron is scheduled to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday. Russia calls its attack a “special operation” to disarm and “disarmament” Ukraine. The West says it has launched an unprovoked invasion. Dima, a three-year-old boy who was injured during the Mariupol bombing, lies on a bed in the hospital’s children’s ward as Russia invades Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, March 29, 2022. REUTERS / Marko Djurica read more Some analysts have noted that Russia’s promise to reduce conflict has largely covered areas where it is losing ground. The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said that Russia’s promise to reduce military operations in certain areas was “probably a rotation of individual units and is aimed at misleading.” The Russian military has blamed Ukrainian forces for attacking cities that used ceasefires to restore combat readiness and set fire to hospitals and schools, the Interfax news agency reported. US troops in Poland are “linking” to Ukrainian forces as they hand over weapons and a total of 10 F-18s and more than 200 troops are deployed in NATO member Lithuania and Russia, Kirby said. suggestions The Ukrainian negotiators said that according to their proposals, Kyiv would agree not to join alliances or to host foreign military bases, but would have guaranteed security on terms similar to “Article 5”, the collective defense clause of the transatlantic military alliance. of NATO. They named Israel and NATO members Canada, Poland and Turkey as countries that can provide such guarantees. Russia, the United States, Britain, Germany and Italy could also be involved. The proposals, which would require a referendum in Ukraine, mentioned a 15-year consultation period on the Crimean regime, which was annexed by Russia in 2014. The fate of the southeastern Donbas region, which Russia is demanding that Ukraine cede to the separatists, will be discussed by Ukrainian and Russian leaders. Kiev’s proposals also included that Moscow would not oppose Ukraine’s accession to the European Union, said Russia’s chief negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky. Russia has previously opposed Ukraine’s accession to the EU, and in particular to NATO. Medinsky said the Russian delegation would study and present the proposals to President Putin. To prepare for a peace deal, Medinsky later told the TASS news agency, “We still have a long way to go.” Thousands of people may have died in the besieged Ukrainian port of Mariupol, the head of the United Nations human rights mission in the country told Reuters on Tuesday. Those who stay suffer. “There are eight of us. We have two buckets of potatoes, one bucket of onions,” said Irina, an engineer, in her apartment where the windows were thrown. Elsewhere, Ukrainian forces have advanced, seizing territory from Russian troops on the outskirts of Kiev, in the northeast and south. In the southern city of Mykolaiv, a rocket exploded in a hole in the main administration building. Authorities say at least 12 people were killed and 33 were injured. read more Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Report by Gleb Garaninch in KYIV OUTSKIRTS, a Reuters journalist at MARIUPOL and Pavel Polityuk at LVIV and Reuters. Written by Costas Pita and Michael Perry. Edited by Cynthia Osterman and Stephen Coates Our role models: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
