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Russia on Tuesday promised to reduce military operations around Kiev and the city of Chernihiv, but the United States warned that the danger was not over.
This development comes as Ukraine proposed the adoption of a neutral status as a sign of progress in the ongoing face-to-face negotiations between the parties.
The talks took place in Istanbul more than a month after Moscow invaded Ukraine, a conflict that has killed and injured thousands, forced nearly 4 million Ukrainians to flee the country and severely hit the economy with sanctions. Russia.
Russian military forces have been restrained on most fronts due to strong resistance from Ukrainian military troops retaking territory, yet civilians continue to be trapped in the besieged cities.
“A decision was made to radically reduce, by a large margin, military operations in the direction of Kiev and Chernihiv“Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin told reporters on Tuesday.
But he did not mention other areas that have faced fierce fighting, such as Mariupol in the southeast, Sumy and Kharkiv in the east, and Kherson and Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine.
Asked by reporters about Moscow’s comments, President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that Western allies are waiting to see if Russia will fulfill its commitment to reduce attacks around the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, and the northern city of Chernihiv.
President Biden made the remarks following a telephone conversation with the leaders of the United Kingdom, France and Italy. “There seems to be a consensus (on this issue) to see what they have to offer“, Said Mr. Biden.
Russia has begun removing a very small number of troops from positions around Kiev in a move that is more of a repositioning than a withdrawal, the Pentagon said on Tuesday.
“This does not mean that the threat to Kiev is over“Spokesman John Kirby told a news conference.
Mr Kirby said 10 US F-18s and more than 200 troops had been deployed to Lithuania, a NATO member and neighbor of Russia. On the other hand, American troops in Poland are interacting with Ukrainian forces by handing over weapons.
Russia calls the attack on Ukraine a special military operation to disarm and get rid of Nazism and its influence in the country. But the West says Moscow has launched an unprovoked attack.
Some analysts noted that Russia’s promise to reduce fighting largely covered areas where it had lost ground.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said only a concrete result from the talks could be credible.
“We can say that the signals we receive from the talks are positive, but they are not drowning out the explosions of Russian shells“, He said./VOA
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