Ukraine has reacted with scepticism to the Russian promise made during their talks in Istanbul, Turkey, where the nation said it would scale down military operations around Kyiv and Chernihiv regions. 

President Volodymyr Zelensky said, on Tuesday, “Ukrainians are not naive people”, adding, “Ukrainians have already learned during these 34 days of invasion, and over the past eight years of the war in Donbas, that the only thing they can trust is a concrete result”, Reuters reported. 

Earlier, Russian deputy defence minister Alexander Fomin had told reporters, “In order to increase mutual trust and create the necessary conditions for further negotiations and achieving the ultimate goal of agreeing and signing (an) agreement, a decision was made to radically, by a large margin, reduce military activity in the Kyiv and Chernihiv directions”. 

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However, there has been no mention of Russia withdrawing troops from other key regions such as Mariupol, as the Azov Sea port city continues to withstand indiscriminate shelling. 

While more fruitful and substantial talks between the two nations seem feasible, there are some reports of President Vladimir Putin being determined to play hardball. The Times reported Putin saying he’d “thrash” Ukraine’s peace offer while speaking to Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich. 

Zelensky too has remained firm that he wouldn’t discuss the “denazification” of Ukraine. 

Recently, Zelensky has opened up to the possibility of discussing Ukraine not joining NATO in exchange for a ceasefire. With the Ukrainian distrust of Russia, which comes with the nation being accused of war crimes by the invaded country, Zelensky finds himself between a rock and a hard place. 

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As the Ukrainian president has surmised, NATO is unwilling to escalate this situation, since they have made it clear no member countries want their troops in direct conflict with Russia. Thus, Zelensky’s repeated requests for a no-fly zone were turned down, prompting a growing disinterest on Ukraine’s part to join the military organization. 

Meanwhile, Russia is getting a core concern resolved, too, as this would halt NATO’s eastward expansion, which would place the US-led organization’s troops at Russia’s borders. 

Despite the present mistrust, some within the Ukraine government have predicted a swift end to the war as well.