Russia pledge to deescalate in Ukraine leaves West cold

Russia pledged to scale down fighting around Kyiv and a second major city following peace talks on Tuesday that Ukraine s leader said showed "positive" signs, but Western allies made clear their doubts over Moscow s intentions.

Details filtering from the talks in Istanbul raised hopes after more than a month of war that has left thousands dead and millions displaced.

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Kyiv s negotiator David Arakhamia said there were "sufficient" conditions for President Volodymyr Zelensky and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to meet in a push to end Europe s worst conflict in decades.

On the Russian side, chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky called the talks "meaningful," while the country s deputy defence minister, Alexander Fomin, reported progress on "the neutrality and non-nuclear status" of Ukraine -- two central Russian concerns.

Russia, Fomin said, had decided to "radically, by several times reduce the military activity" around Kyiv and the northern city of Chernigiv.

Zelensky himself sounded a note of cautious optimism following the day s talks -- though he said the "positive" signals "do not drown out the explosions or Russian shells" and vowed in a video address late Tuesday to keep up defence efforts.

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But the United States cast clear doubt on Moscow s words, and vowed with fellow Western powers to keep "raising the costs" on Russia.

And by Tuesday evening Ukraine s general staff -- while confirming Russian units were withdrawing from the Kyiv and Chernigiv regions -- said it was most likely a troop rotation intended to "mislead" Ukraine s military.