Russia has announced it will “drastically reduce” military combat operations in two key areas of Ukraine “to boost mutual trust” in peace talks. The decision to scale back operations around the capital, Kyiv, and the northern city of Chernihiv is the first sign of tangible progress in talks since Russia invaded on 24 February. Ukraine has proposed neutrality in exchange for security guarantees. Russia launched the invasion to stop Ukraine joining the Nato alliance. Russian officials said peace talks in Istanbul, Turkey, had moved to a practical stage. Deputy Defence Minister Alexander Fomin, who was taking part in the talks, told Russian TV that as “Ukraine’s neutrality and non-nuclear status and security guarantees” had progressed, the defence ministry had taken the decision to cut its operations dramatically in the two areas to “create the necessary conditions for further negotiations and for the signing of the aforementioned agreement”. While Russia is focusing on capturing areas of eastern Ukraine and a southern land corridor to Crimea, its military assault on Kyiv has been bogged down for weeks.(BBC)…[+]