Zelensky calls for vigilance

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned the country not to "lose vigilance" following Russia's announcement that it would drastically reduce its military activities near Kyiv.

The Russian comments, which followed a round of peace talks with Ukrainian officials in Istanbul on Tuesday, sent global stocks higher as investors were optimistic that negotiations could gain momentum.

"You saw the news today that the Russian military command has allegedly decided to limit hostilities towards Kyiv and Chernihiv," Zelensky said in a speech late Tuesday evening.

"We shouldn't let our guard down. The situation hasn't gotten any easier. The scale of the challenges hasn't diminished. The Russian army still has significant potential for further attacks against our state."

The apparent Russian withdrawal announced by Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin was the first faint sign of progress in ending the months-long war.

However, Ukraine and its western allies remained deeply skeptical of President Vladimir Putin's intentions, while Russia geared up for a major attack on the eastern Donbass border region and further attacks in the south.

"Yes, we can call the signals we are hearing from the negotiating platform positive. But these signals do not silence the explosion of Russian shells," said Zelensky, who later referred to an attack in the southern city of Mykolayiv at least eight people were killed on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, Donbass authorities said that residential areas in Lysychansk, a city in the region, had come under "heavy artillery fire".

Although Russia presented the withdrawal in Kyiv and Chernihiv as a confidence-building measure, it appeared to justify the withdrawal of Russian forces, which had already retreated in the face of Ukrainian counterattacks.

The British Ministry of Defense said on Wednesday the units had been forced to return to Russia and Belarus to reorganize and resupply after suffering heavy losses.

It added that Russia's stated shift in focus to the Donbas "is likely a tacit admission that it is struggling to maintain more than one axis of advance," and warned that Russia "is likely to offset its reduced ground maneuvering ability with massive artillery and missile attacks." will compensate".

British defense officials added that Ukrainian forces held back Russian forces north-west of Kyiv, including at Irpin, and "the Russians were pushed back from a number of positions".

Joe Biden echoed the words of his Ukrainian counterpart, declaring he would "read nothing" from Russia's decision to scale back its military activities near Kyiv.

"We'll see if they implement what they're proposing," Biden said in the White House. The US President added that he spoke to leaders of France, Germany, Britain and Italy on Tuesday and all agreed they were ready to listen to Russia. "There seems to be a consensus that we want to see what Russia has to offer," Biden said.

In assessing Russia's actions, the US and its allies would continue to impose sanctions, provide lethal aid to Ukraine and monitor diplomatic talks, he added.

Zelensky said: "Sanctions must be tightened. Tightened weekly. And they must be effective" in order to create peace.

His chief of staff, Andriy Ermak, said Wednesday that Ukraine needs "effective weapons, heavy weapons, artillery, anti-aircraft and anti-ship missiles," but "at the same time, we are not ceasing diplomatic efforts to end the war."

Talks are set to resume online after Ukraine formally presented draft proposals to Russia on Tuesday.

Fomin said talks on Ukraine's neutrality and non-nuclear status - two critical Russian demands - in exchange for security guarantees for Ukraine are "entering a practical stage".

Oleksandr Chaly, a member of the Ukrainian delegation, said Ukraine and Russia would continue negotiations in the next two weeks, after which the "guarantee countries" - the states expected to guarantee the security of the country as part of an agreement Guarantee Ukraine - join.