Russia to ‘radically’ cut military activity near Kiev as talks with Ukraine progress

Russia says it will “radically” reduce military activity around the Ukrainian capital of Kiev and the northern city of Chernihiv, in what is described as the most tangible sign of progress toward a peace deal aimed at ending a military offensive in the former Soviet state.

Russia’s Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin made the announcement after talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in the Turkish city of Istanbul on Tuesday.

"In order to increase mutual trust and create the necessary conditions for further negotiations and achieving the ultimate goal of agreeing and signing (an) agreement, a decision was made to radically, by a large margin, reduce military activity in the Kiev and Chernihiv directions," Fomin told reporters.

Fomin did not refer to the eastern and southern parts of Ukraine where Russian forces are also conducting major operations.

The Russian deputy defense minister also suggested there had been progress in Moscow-Kiev talks, saying, “Negotiations on preparing an agreement on Ukraine's neutrality and non-nuclear status, as well as on giving Ukraine security guarantees, are turning to practical matters.”

Vladimir Medinsky, Russia's chief negotiator, said the Tuesday announcement was one of two steps Moscow was taking to de-escalate the 34-day-old conflict in the former Soviet state following the negotiations in Istanbul.

Medinsky said the other was that Russia would agree to a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, to take place simultaneously if and when a peace treaty was signed by their respected delegations.

Moscow had previously said a presidential meeting between the two sides could only take place at a later point.

In a televised speech on February 24, the Russian president announced a “special military operation” in Ukraine following Moscow’s recognition of self-declared republics in the Lugansk and Donetsk regions, collectively known as Donbass.

The conflict has provoked a unanimous response from Western countries, which have imposed a long list of sanctions on Moscow. Russia says it will halt the military operation instantly if Kiev meets Moscow’s list of demands, including never applying to join NATO.

Russia calls ‘liberation’ of Donbass main goal of operation in Ukraine

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu says Moscow has completed the main objectives of the first phase of the special military operation in Ukraine and that the army will be focusing on the “liberation” of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, collectively known as the Donbass.

Russia expels 10 Baltic diplomats in tit-for-tat response

In another development on Tuesday, Russia announced the expulsion of 10 diplomats from three Baltic states in a tit-for-tat response, including three diplomats each from Estonia and Latvia, and four from Lithuania.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it had called in the ambassadors of the three countries to complain about what it described as "provocative" and "groundless" action taken against its diplomats.

The three Baltic countries had earlier in the month expelled a total of 10 Russian diplomats in a coordinated move.

Latvia said the Russian diplomats' activities had been at odds with their diplomatic status and that the decision to expel them had also taken into account the Russian military offensive in Ukraine.

Four other European countries also announced on Tuesday major expulsions of Russian diplomats for alleged espionage charges.

The Netherlands announced the expulsion of 17 Russian diplomats who the Dutch Foreign Ministry claimed were acting as intelligence officers, while Belgium expelled 21 Russian diplomats, Ireland asked four diplomats to leave, and the Czech Republic one.

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