President Biden on Tuesday took a wait-and-see approach to Russia’s claim that it had “drastically” reduced its military activity near the Ukraine capital of Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv.
“We’ll see,” Mr. Biden said at a joint press conference with Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. “I don’t read anything into it until I see what their actions are. We’ll see if they follow through with what they’ve suggested.”
“Let’s just see what they have to offer, but in the meantime, we are going to continue to keep strong with the sanctions, we are going to continue to provide the Ukrainian military with the capacity to defend themselves and we are going to keep a close eye on what’s going on,” he said.
Earlier Tuesday, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin said Moscow would reduce its military presence in Kyiv and Chernihiv.
His comments suggested that some progress may have been made during negotiations between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul for a fresh round of peace talks.
