Is Russia's pledge to cut some Ukraine operations genuine, or a cynical move to buy time?
Western leaders have reacted with scepticism to Moscow's pledge to "drastically reduce" combat operations around Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv.
"We'll see," said Joe Biden. "I don't read anything into it until I see what their actions are." The consensus of Western allies, he said, was to "see what they have to offer".
The US president had been asked whether the withdrawal was a sign that negotiations to rein in the month-long invasion might be showing progress, or an indication that Russia was merely trying to buy time to continue its assault on Ukraine.
Biden joined the French, British, German and Italian leaders for a conference call. Afterwards, all were cautious after the announcement of these advances in the Russian-Ukrainian talks.
Emmanuel Macron, Boris Johnson, Olaf Scholz, Mario Draghi and Biden all warned against any "slackening of Western resolve until the horror inflicted on Ukraine is over", according to Downing Street's version of the call.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also sounded a large note of caution amid the early reports of progress emerging from the talks in Istanbul.
"I would leave it to our Ukrainian partners to characterise whether there is any genuine progress, and whether Russia is engaged, engaging meaningfully," he said during a visit to Morocco.
"What I can say is this: there is what Russia says, and there is what Russia does. We're focused on the latter. And what Russia is doing is the continued brutalisation of Ukraine and its people, and that continues as we speak."
Russia's Deputy Defence Minister, Alexander Fomin, said the pledge to reduce operations around the two major cities was meant “to increase trust” in talks aimed at ending the fighting.
But last week Russia's army
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