KYIV, Ukraine (AP) Russias military said Tuesday it would fundamentally cut back operations near Ukraines capital and a northern city, potentially a significant concession by Moscow since it invaded its neighbor more than a month ago .

Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin said the move was meant to increase trust in talks aimed at ending fighting, as negotiators met face-to-face after several rounds of failed negotiations. But Russias troops have been bogged down and struggling to make major advances recently.

The talks in Istanbul raised flickering hopes there could be progress toward ending a war that has ground into a bloody campaign of attrition.

Fomin said Moscow had decided to fundamentally ... cut back military activity in the direction of Kyiv and Chernihiv to increase mutual trust and create conditions for further negotiations.

Ukraines military said it had noted withdrawals around Kyiv and Chernihiv, though the Pentagon said it could not corroborate the reports,

An adviser to the Ukrainian president said the meeting in Istanbul was focused on securing a cease-fire and guarantees for Ukraines security issues that have been at the heart of previous unsuccessful negotiations.

Ahead of the talks , Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country was prepared to declare its neutrality, as Moscow has demanded, and was open to compromise over the contested eastern region of Donbas comments that might lend momentum to negotiations. But even as the negotiators assembled, Russian forces hit an oil depot in western Ukraine and demolished a government building in the south, with several deaths.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the two sides that they had a historic responsibility to stop the fighting.

We believe that there will be no losers in a just peace. Prolonging the conflict is not in anyones interest, Erdogan said, as he greeted the two delegations seated on opposite sides of a long table.