Peace talks between Russia and Ukraine resumed in Istanbul after a two-week pause today. It's the second time the sides have met in Turkey, which has sought to position itself as an honest broker in the conflict.

The round held at Istanbul’s Dolmabahce Palace “achieved more meaningful progress” than any of the talks held so far, asserted Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu after they ended. Russian negotiators called the talks “constructive.”

Russia’s Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin said that Moscow had decided to “fundamentally cut back military activity” in the environs of Kyiv and the city of Chernihiv in order to “increase mutual trust for future negotiations to agree and sign a peace deal with Ukraine.” The announcement was hailed as one of the most positive outcomes of today’s meeting.

CNN cited US officials as saying that Russia had already begun to withdraw some of its forces from the Ukrainian capital in a “major” strategy shift. Faced with fierce Ukrainian resistance, Russian forces have failed to make any significant gains in and around Kyiv since the start of the war on Feb. 24. Russia now says it will focus its efforts on consolidating control over Ukraine’s Donbas region, where it ignited a separatist rebellion and set up puppet governments in the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, which it formally recognized in February.