(Reuters) – Ukrainian negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak said on Wednesday he felt optimistic after talks with Russia at which Moscow said it would scale down military operations near Kyiv and a city in northern Ukraine.
“I have an optimistic impression of the round of negotiations in Istanbul,” Podolyak told an online briefing following Tuesday’s talks in Turkey.
He said a proposed system of security guarantees for Ukraine, which would be offered in exchange for its neutrality, would be put to a nationwide referendum only after Russian troops withdrew to positions they held before invading Ukraine.
(Reporting by Natalia Zinets, writing by Max Hunder, editing by Timothy Heritage)
