Russia Says It Will Scale
Back Assault on Kyiv, As Talks Continue.
Representatives for Moscow made the statement from Istanbul, where the talks are being conducted.
The two nations are attempting to bring an end to the war in Ukraine that has raged for more than a month.
[Russia will] fundamentally... cut back military activity in the direction of Kyiv and Chernihiv [to] increase mutual trust
and create conditions for
further negotiations, Alexander Fomin, Russian Deputy Defense Minister, via AP.
The Russian deputy defense minister
did not provide details.
Western officials and leaders, including U.S. President
Joe Biden, expressed skepticism at the development.
We’ll see. I don’t read anything into it until I see what their actions are, U.S. President Joe Biden, via AP.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated
the president's sentiment.
There is what Russia says and there is what Russia does, and we’re focused on the latter, Antony Blinken, U.S. Secretary of State, via AP.
Analysts at the Pentagon and in the private sector stated that Russia may be sincere in its scale back.
This sounds like more of an acknowledgment of the situation around Kyiv where Russia’s advance has been stalled for weeks and Ukrainian forces have had recent successes. , Rob Lee, Military Expert at Foreign Policy Research Institute, via AP.
Questions remain over whether the Russian army is capable of taking Kyiv after meeting fierce resistance on all fronts of its invasion.
Russia doesn’t have the forces to encircle the city, Rob Lee, Military Expert at Foreign Policy Research Institute, via AP.
Estimates of the casualties as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine range in the tens of thousands.
Nearly four million Ukrainians
have fled their home country