Multiple explosions were reported in Kyiv on Tuesday night and into the early hours of Wednesday morning. It comes just hours after Russia announced it will significantly scale back military operations near Ukraine’s capital and a northern city, as the outlines of a possible deal to end the grinding war came into view at the latest round of talks.
Ukraine’s delegation at the conference, held in Istanbul, laid out a framework under which the country would declare itself neutral and its security would be guaranteed by an array of other nations. Moscow’s public reaction was positive, and the negotiations are expected to resume on Wednesday, five weeks into what has devolved into a bloody war of attrition, with thousands dead and almost four million Ukrainians fleeing the country.
Amid the talks, Russian Deputy Defence Minister Alexander 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. The announcement was met with scepticism from the US and other nations.
