KYIV, March 29 - Russian military said Tuesday that it had "drastically" reduced its activity near the Ukraine capital of Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv as talks with Ukraine aimed at ending the war entered the “practical” stage, USA Today reported.

Russia and Ukraine held face-to-face talks Tuesday in Turkey as the United Nations pressed for a cease-fire in Russia's brutal invasion. The talks took place in the Turkish presidential office in Istanbul and lasted more than three hours, Russia's Tass agency reported.

Alexander Fomin, Russia's deputy minister of defense, said the military cutbacks were made to “increase mutual trust and create conditions for further negotiations.”

President Joe Biden, who had a call with European leaders Tuesday morning to discuss aiding Ukraine and pressuring Russia to end the war, was asked about the Russian claim of a military cutback near Kyiv.

"We'll see,'' he said.

The Pentagon sounded even more skeptical, as press secretary John Kirby said the pullout of troops was small and they may be reassigned.

"We're not prepared to call this a retreat or even a withdrawal,'' Kirby said in a news briefing. "We think what they probably had in mind is a repositioning to prioritize elsewhere.''

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed mistrust in “the words coming from representatives of the country that continues fighting to destroy us.”

Ukraine’s military said it had detected withdrawals around the cities, and U.S. Gen. Tod Wolters, commander of the U.S. European Command, said that is “exactly what we see.” The Russian advance on Kyiv had stalled in recent weeks, but missile strikes have battered the city and left shortages of food, water and other necessities for a population of almost 3 million people.

The head of the Ukrainian delegation, David Arakhamiya, said his side presented an official proposal for a new system of security guarantees. The proposed security pledge will not apply to the parts of Ukraine whose status remains in dispute – Crimea, which Russia considers its territory after annexing it in 2014, and the breakaway Donetsk and Lugansk areas.

"We insist that it be an international treaty signed by all security guarantors who ratify," Arahamiya said. "We want it to be an international mechanism of concrete security guarantees for Ukraine."

Lead Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said Ukraine pledged not to join any military alliance and not to host foreign military bases or foreign troops. Even military exercises would require prior approval from guarantors, according to the proposal.

Kyiv also pledged not to seek to obtain weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons, Medinsky said. In return, Ukraine requires that Russia will not object to Ukraine joining the EU one day.

Zelenskyy has said his country was prepared to declare its neutrality, as Moscow has demanded, and was open to working out a compromise over the contested eastern region of Donbas over the next 15 years. (ut/ez)