Russia says it will scale back near Kyiv as talks progress

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) —
Russia's military announced Tuesday that it will “fundamentally” scale back operations near Ukraine's capital and a northern city, as talks brought the outlines of a possible deal to end the grinding war into view.

Deputy Defence Minister Alexander Fomin said the move was meant to increase trust in the talks after several rounds of negotiations failed to halt what has devolved into a bloody campaign of attrition.

The announcement was met with skepticism from the U.S. and others.

While Russia portrayed it as a goodwill gesture, it comes as the Kremlin's troops have become bogged down in the face of stiff Ukrainian resistance that has thwarted President Vladimir Putin's hopes for a quick military victory.

Late last week, and again on Tuesday, Russia seemed to roll back its war aims, saying its “main goal” now is gaining control of the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he had not seen anything indicating talks were progressing in a “constructive way,” and he suggested Russian indications of a pullback could be an attempt by Moscow to “deceive people and deflect attention.”

“There is what Russia says and there is what Russia does, and we're focused on the latter,” Blinken said in Morocco. “And what Russia is doing is the continued brutalisation of Ukraine.”

He added, “If they somehow believe that an effort to subjugate only the eastern part of Ukraine or the southern part of Ukraine ... can succeed, then once again they are profoundly fooling themselves.”

Fomin said Moscow has decided to “fundamentally ... cut back military activity in the direction of Kyiv and Chernihiv” to “increase mutual trust and create conditions for further negotiations.”

He did not immediately spell out what that would mean in practical terms.

Ukraine's military said it has noted withdrawals of some forces around Kyiv and Chernihiv.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told CNN “we haven't seen anything to corroborate” reports of Russia withdrawing significant forces from around Kyiv.

“But what we have seen over the last couple of days is they have stopped trying to advance on Kyiv.”

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