Russia said President Vladimir Putin could meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine once a draft peace agreement was ready. The U.S. and its allies were skeptical of Russia’s promises to reduce attacks in some areas as fighting raged in the east.

The first signs of significant progress emerged as Russia and Ukraine held three hours of peace talks in Istanbul on Tuesday, but Russia appeared determined to capture more territory in eastern Ukraine and officials predicted that weeks of further negotiation were needed.

Russia offered concessions that signaled a more realistic course for the war in Ukraine, saying it would scale back military activity around the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and the northern city of Chernihiv as a good will gesture. But the Russian advance in the north had already stalled and diplomats and analysts indicated Moscow seemed in no hurry to end the war.

In his nightly address on Tuesday, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said that negotiations with Russia had been “positive,” but that “these signals do not silence the explosion of Russian shells.”


“The enemy is still in our territory,” Mr. Zelensky said. “The shelling of our cities continues. Mariupol is blocked. Missile and airstrikes do not stop. This is the reality. These are the facts.”

After three hours of negotiations in Istanbul on Tuesday, Ukrainian officials said the country was ready to declare itself permanently neutral militarily — keeping it from joining NATO, which has been a key demand from the Russians.

Russia’s de-escalation claims were met with skepticism and fears that Russian troops would instead work toward taking another part of Ukraine. The British Ministry of Defense said in an update on Tuesday that it was “highly likely” that Russia would refocus its combat power in the eastern region of Ukraine, in Donetsk and Luhansk. “It is almost certain that the Russian offensive has failed in its objective to encircle Kyiv,” the ministry said.

The Ukrainians indicated they were open to discussing territorial concessions if President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine were to meet with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. Russia has said it would only set a meeting between the two presidents once a draft peace agreement was ready.

Mr. Zelensky is scheduled to address Australia’s Parliament on Thursday afternoon. It follows his similar addresses to the United States, Britain, Canada and others.

The head of the U.N. World Food Program warned the Security Council on Tuesday that the war in Ukraine was creating a catastrophe affecting local agriculture and global food and grain supplies “beyond anything we’ve seen since World War II.”