Moscow pledges to significantly decrease military activities on Kyiv, says Russian negotiator

ISTANBUL, TURKIYE - MARCH 29: Moscow pledged to significantly decrease military activities on Kyiv, the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv, Russian negotiator said on Tuesday, March 29, after latest round of Russia-Ukraine peace talks in Istanbul.The first day of a new round of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine brokered by Turkiye ended in Istanbul.The two-day peace talks are being held at the presidential Dolmabahce office.The first session for the day started at 10.30 a.m. local time (0730GMT).Russian and Ukrainian negotiators arrived in Istanbul on Monday.Ahead of the talks, Turkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reiterated his call for a cease-fire between Russia and Ukraine as the war has entered its second month.“We believe that a just peace will have no losers, and a prolonged conflict is not in anyone’s interest,” Erdogan told Russian and Ukrainian negotiators.Earlier, Erdogan said phone talks with his Ukrainian and Russian counterparts are continuing in a “favorable direction.”Before the peace talks, the heads of the Ukrainian and Russian delegations, David Arakhamia and Vladimir Medinsky, held a one-on-one meeting.Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich is also attending the talks. He held talks in Moscow and Lviv earlier this month in an attempt to mediate between the two nations.Several rounds of talks between Russia and Ukraine have been held in Belarus so far, including a video conference on March 14, with no concrete results achieved yet.(Footage by Melik Firat Yucel/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)