Turkey takes a leading role in ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine
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Russia link said it would scale down fighting around two Ukrainian cities following talks link with Ukraine link on Tuesday and raised the possibility of a meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents.
The outcome of the face-to-face talks link a palace in Istanbul raised hopes link more than a month of conflict that has left thousands dead and forced millions from their homes.
But London and Washington immediately cast doubt on Russia link words and, on the ground, Ukraine link said seven people were killed by a Russian strike on a government building in the city of Mykolaiv.
Following the talks link, Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia said there were "sufficient" conditions for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin to meet.
Arakhamia also called for "an international mechanism of security guarantees where guarantor countries will act in a similar way to NATO's article number five -- and even more firmly".
Russian Deputy Defence Minister Alexander Fomin said there had been progress in talks link on "the neutrality and non-nuclear status of Ukraine link".
Therefore, "a decision has been made to radically, by several times reduce the military activity" around the capital Kyiv and the city of Chernigiv, he said.
Chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said there had been a "meaningful discussion".
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken responded saying he doubted Russia link "seriousness".
"There is what Russia link says and there is what Russia link does. We're focussed on the latter," he said, speaking at a press conference in Morocco.
"What Russia link is doing is the continued brutalisation of Ukraine link and its people, and that continues as we speak."
A spokesman for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: "We will judge Putin and his regime by his actions and not by his words". SEVEN KILLED IN MYKOLAIV STRIKE
Following the announcements on Tuesday, European stock markets lifted and oil prices fell by five percent as supply fears eased, while the ruble surged 10 percent against the dollar.
Just hours earlier, Ukraine link said seven people were killed in a Russian strike against the regional government headquarters in Mykolaiv, adding to a toll estimated by Zelensky at 20,000 so far.
"I was having breakfast in my apartment," Donald, 69, a retired Canadian postal worker with Ukrainian residency told AFP. "I heard a whoosh, then a boom and my windows rattled."
Another local resident, Viktor Gaivonenko, who was helping clean up the debris, said: "Putin is a bastard. That's all there is to it".
Ukrainian forces have pushed back Russian forces from around the city in recent days and have recaptured territory in other parts of the country, including in the suburban town of Irpin outside Kyiv -- an important gateway to the capital.
Ukraine link has also resumed evacuations from areas in the south of the country occupied by Russian forces. -APP/AFP
