Russia has promised to scale back its attacks on Kyiv in order to boost “mutual trust,” but there were only minimal signs of a pullback yesterday, and the announcement was met with derision from many civilians in the capital.

Russia has promised to scale back its attacks on Kyiv in order to boost “mutual trust,” but there were only minimal signs of a pullback yesterday, and the announcement was met with derision from many civilians in the capital.

At the start of peace talks in Istanbul on Tuesday, Russia’s deputy defence minister, Alexander Fomin, said Moscow would “radically reduce military activity in the direction of Kyiv and Chernihiv.” He said the move was aimed at “increasing mutual trust, creating the right conditions for future negotiations and reaching the final aim of signing a peace deal with Ukraine.”

However, Moscow’s lead negotiator in the talks, Vladimir Medinsky, later clarified Mr. Fomin’s announcement of a pullback. Saying “this is not a ceasefire, but this is our aspiration, gradually to reach a de-escalation of the conflict at least on these fronts”. 

In a video address last night, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia cannot be trusted. Although the signals from the talks are positive, they “can’t silence explosions of Russian shells”. 

Ukraine will continue negotiations but officials do not trust the word of the country that continues fighting to destroy them. 

There is no doubt among military observers that Russia’s invasion has run into significant problems and has stalled across much of the country because of Ukrainian resistance, particularly outside Kyiv. However, shelling continues in several cities.