Russia said it would scale down fighting around two Ukrainian cities following "meaningful" talks with Ukraine on Tuesday, as officials raised the prospect of a meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents.
The outcome of the face-to-face talks at a palace in Istanbul raised hopes around the world after more than a month of conflict that has left thousands dead and forced millions from their homes.
On the ground, Ukraine said seven people were killed by a Russian strike on a regional government building in the southern port city of Mykolaiv.
But Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia said there were now "sufficient" conditions for talks between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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 meanwhile 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.
Russia's chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky also said there had been "meaningful discussion" and raised the prospect of a Putin-Zelensky meeting.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu called the talks the "most significant progress" since Russia's invasion began on February 24.
US President Joe Biden discussed the "latest developments" with the leaders of Britain, France, Germany and Italy in a call that lasted just under an hour.-AFP
