Moscow announced that it would "drastically" reduce its military activity in the vicinity of Kyiv and Chernihiv, and would focus on Donbass in eastern Ukraine.
Russia's chief negotiator in talks with Ukraine said on Tuesday that his country's promise to reduce military operations around Kyiv and in northern Ukraine did not constitute a ceasefire.
Vladimir Medinsky said in an interview with the Russian "TASS" news agency: "This is not a ceasefire, but this is what we aspire to, a gradual de-escalation of the conflict, at least on those fronts."
This comes after the Russian delegation to the Istanbul talks announced today that Moscow will "dramatically" reduce its military activity in northern Ukraine, including the areas near Kyiv, following "useful" talks with the Ukrainian delegation.
"Since talks on preparing an agreement on Ukraine's neutral and nuclear-free status have moved to a practical stage... a decision was made to radically reduce military activity in the Kyiv and Chernihiv regions," said Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin.
He noted that the goal is to "increase mutual trust and create the necessary conditions for further negotiations."
In turn, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Tuesday that the "liberation of Donbass" in eastern Ukraine has now become the main objective of Moscow's military operation.
Shoigu held a meeting with senior military officials and said, "In general, the main tasks of the first phase of the operation have been completed."
"The combat capability of the Ukrainian armed forces has significantly decreased, which makes it possible to focus the main attention and main efforts on achieving the main goal, the liberation of Donbass," he added.
This decision is the first major concession made by the Russians since the start of its military operation in Ukraine more than a month ago.
The General Staff of the Ukrainian Army had said earlier that it had observed Russian withdrawals from areas around Kyiv and Chernihiv.
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