Russia has issued a major sign that peace could be on the horizon in Ukraine, after they signalled that they would "drastically reduce combat operations" in Kyiv.
Talks got underway on Tuesday morning between representatives of the Russian and Ukrainian governments in Istanbul.
They lasted three hours, and were far more progressive than the first two rounds of negotiations.
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Speaking to reporters afterwards, Alexander Fomin (the Russian Minister of Defence) indicated that they had gone well.
He said: "Due to the fact that negotiations over an agreement on Ukraine’s neutrality and non-nuclear status and security guarantees (for Ukraine) are moving into a practical stage, and taking into consideration the principles discussed during today’s meeting, the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation has taken the decision to drastically reduce combat operations in the Kyiv and Chernihiv areas in order to boost mutual trust and create the necessary conditions for further negotiations and for the signing of the aforementioned agreement.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has said it would adopt neutral status - one of Russia's key demands for peace - in return for security guarantees, its negotiators have said.
Neutral status would mean that Ukraine would not join any military alliances, such as NATO, or host military bases.
Its negotiators said there was enough material in the current Ukrainian proposals to warrant a meeting between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin, adding they were awaiting Russia's response.
The Financial Times report that calls for Ukraine to be "denazified" - widely understood to be code for regime change - have been dropped by Russia as part of ceasefire negotiations
Four people briefed on the ongoing talks told the newspaper that the Kremlin was also prepared to let Ukraine join the European Union if it abandoned its drive to join NATO.
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