Russia said it would scale down fighting around two Ukrainian cities following talks with Ukraine on Tuesday and raised the possibility of a meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents.
The outcome of the face-to-face talks at a palace in Istanbul raised hopes after 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's words and, on the ground, Ukraine said seven people were killed by a Russian strike on a government building in the city of Mykolaiv.
Following the talks, 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 on "the neutrality and non-nuclear status of Ukraine".
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's "seriousness".
"There is what Russia says and there is what Russia does. We're focussed on the latter," he said, speaking at a press conference in Morocco.
"What Russia is doing is the continued brutalisation of Ukraine 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".-AFP
