Russia begins withdrawing forces and reducing bombardments around Kyiv after vowing to 'radically reduce' military activity during 'meaningful' peace talks with Ukraine attended by Roman Abramovich

 Russia is already starting to withdraw some of its forces from the Kyiv region after announcing it would 'radically reduce' military activity at peace talks in Turkey today.

US and UK intelligence has identified movements in Kremlin Battalion Tactical Groups around the capital after deputy defence minister Alexander Fomin said their troops would start to scale back operations in Kyiv and Chernihiv.

Downing Street said: 'There has been some reduction in Russian bombardment around Kyiv, largely because Ukrainian forces have been successfully pushing back the Russian offensives in the northwest of the city.

'But fighting continues. There's heavy bombardment in Mariupol and other areas. So we don't want to see anything less than a complete withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukrainian territory.'

Security officials believe the move is an acknowledgement of Russia's failure to encircle and capture Kyiv in a matter of days, as had been planned at the onset of the invasion.

Turkey hailed the move as the 'most significant progress' in negotiations so far and it will raise hopes that Putin will ease off his savage bombardment of Russia's neighbour. 

Fomin said: 'The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation has taken the decision to radically reduce combat operations in the Kyiv and Chernihiv areas in order to boost mutual trust and create the necessary conditions for further negotiations and for the signing of the aforementioned agreement.'  

Russia's chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said there had been a 'meaningful discussion' at the talks which were also attended by Roman Abramovich, a day after it was revealed he had been poisoned at a previous meeting with Ukrainian diplomats.

Both Ukraine and Russia said today's talks have paved the way for a face-to-face meeting between Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky. 

Russian businessman Roman Abramovich attends the peace talks between delegations from Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul today

Abramovich attended peace talks in Turkey today between Ukraine and Russia a day after it was revealed the oligarch was poisoned at a previous meeting. Pictured today alongside Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Abramovich is whisked away from the peace talks today at the Dolmebahce Palace which has been hailed as the first major diplomatic progress

The billionaire is acting as an unofficial mediator for the first face to face meeting between the representatives in more than a fortnight 

The billionaire sat next to Recep Tayyip Erdogan 's spokesman Ibrahimn Kalin at the high-level talks today led by the Turkish president 

Today, Putin attended a meeting with Presidential Grants Foundation CEO Ilya Chukalin in Moscow as his negotiating team was sent to Istanbul

He was joined at the crunch talks by Ukrainian MP Rustem Umerov (pictured centre), who was also poisoned alongside the Chelsea owner during negotiations in Kyiv earlier this month

Russia's chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky (left) has a one-on-one discussion with Ukraine's delegation head David Braun in Istanbul today

Ukrainian negotiators were warned not to eat, drink or even touch anything during peace talks with Russia today following the poisoning. Abramovich is pictured in the far left corner

Erdogan meets Russian and Ukrainian delegations ahead of the peace talks at Dolmabahce Presidential Office in Istanbul

Turkish President Erdogan addresses the Russian and Ukrainian delegations at the start of the peace talks in Istanbul today

The face-to-face talks at the Dolmabahce palace (pictured) in Istanbul are aimed at trying to end a war has killed an estimated 20,000 people and forced more than 10 million from their homes

A spokesman for Kyiv's delegation also said they proposed adopting neutral status in exchange for security guarantees, meaning they would not join military alliances or host military bases.

The proposals would also include a 15-year consultation period on the status of annexed Crimea and could come into force only in the event of a complete ceasefire, the negotiators told reporters in Istanbul after the first negotiations in nearly three weeks.

The talks took place at the Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul this morning, and Abramovich was present as an unofficial mediator just a day after it was revealed he was poisoned at a previous meeting, along with two Ukrainian officials. 

The Chelsea owner was left temporarily blind after eating chocolate and drinking water during negotiations in Kyiv earlier this month with Ukrainian MP Rustem Umerov, who is also present in Turkey today, and another unnamed diplomat. 

The Kremlin said Abramovich is not an official member of their delegation as they also rubbished the poisoning claims, dismissing them as part of the 'information war' despite the businessman's spokesperson confirming he suffered symptoms. 

Ukrainian officials were warned not to eat, drink or even touch anything during today's negotiations, and delegates were given bottled water with glasses covered with paper tops.  

Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba warned: 'I advise anyone going for negotiations with Russia not to eat or drink any thing, (and) preferably avoid touching surfaces.'

A Ukrainian reporter said the start of today's meeting was 'a cold welcome, no handshake'. 

Dmitry Peskov said: 'Roman Abramovich is involved in enabling certain contacts between the Russian and Ukrainian sides.

'He is not an official member of the delegation... but nevertheless he is also present today in Istanbul from our side.

'In order to carry out contacts between the two sides, you need to get approval from both sides, and in the case of Abramovich, this approval is there from both sides.'  

The discussions between Ukrainian and Russian delegations come as the fighting appeared to be at a stalemate, with the two sides trading control of a town in the east and a suburb of the capital.  

Meanwhile, the lead investigator who exposed the poisoning of Abramovich has said the chemical attack was a warning to the billionaire and others not to betray the Kremlin.

Christo Grozev, lead Russia investigator for the investigative news outlet Bellingcat, said the billionaire oligarch was not supposed to die in the poisoning which also affected two Ukrainian negotiators.

He told Times Radio: 'The dosage was not high enough to kill any of the three, the most likely target would have been Abramovich. And it kind of makes sense. 

'I mean, he volunteered to play... this role of (an) honest broker, but other oligarchs had... declared certain independence from the Kremlin position and criticise(d) the war.

'So it could well be seen as a warning sign to them to not join the ranks of those who dissent, and to not be too much of an honest broker.'

Erdogan welcomes the Russian and Ukrainian delegations before their talks, at Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul

Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich listens as Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan addresses Russian and Ukrainian negotiators

Deputy head of Ukraine's Presidential Office Kyrylo Tymoshenko and presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak are pictured at today's talks

Dmitry Peskov said: 'Roman Abramovich is involved in enabling certain contacts between the Russian and Ukrainian sides'

Roman Abramovich was the target of a poisoning earlier this month, investigators believe. Pictured: Abramovich sits in a VIP lounge before a jet linked to him took off for Istanbul from Ben Gurion international airport in Lod near Tel Aviv, Israel, on March 14

Christo Grozev (pictured), lead Russia investigator for the investigative news outlet Bellingcat, said the billionaire oligarch was not supposed to die in the poisoning

A source close to Volodymyr Zelensky told The Financial Times: 'People became totally blind... the next day.

'We did not identify the substance. No idea who was behind [the attack] but it looks like Roman was the main target.'

Another said it was 'definitely not Novichok', adding: 'They couldn't work out who did it - the Ukrainians or the Russians.' 

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said the poisoning attempt during peace talks in Kyiv on March 3 was 'very concerning'. 

It said the UK will 'continue to assist' by implementing tough sanctions on Russian President Vladimir Putin's regime as well as by providing defensive and humanitarian support to put Ukraine 'in the strongest possible negotiating position'. 

A representative for Abramovich confirmed yesterday the oligarch had suffered the reported symptoms after eating chocolate and drinking water but refused to give any further details. 

The Chelsea owner as well as two senior members of the Ukrainian team developed symptoms that included red eyes, painful streaming eyes as well as peeling skin on their faces and hands.

Abramovich, who accepted a Ukrainian request to help negotiate an end to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, also 'went blind for several hours' and was treated at a hospital in Turkey, a source told The Guardian.

Abramovich, another Russian entrepreneur and Ukrainian MP Rustem Umerov (pictured) had been taking part in the negotiations, with the talks lasting until about 10 pm, investigative news site Bellingcat said

Sources told the PA news agency Mr Abramovich had now recovered and was continuing to try to help with the negotiations.

It is understood the oligarch had been involved in talks about securing humanitarian corridors to allow Ukrainians to leave as well as bringing other countries to the negotiating table.

The WSJ reported it was believed the suspected attack was orchestrated by hardliners in Russia who wanted to sabotage the talks.

Asked about the allegations on BBC Newsnight, Sergiy Petukhov, the former deputy minister of justice of Ukraine, said: 'It's really hard to make any conclusions out of (the) information that we have.

'Remember previously one of the Ukrainian negotiators was murdered in Kyiv under unknown circumstances.'

He said the situation makes 'the atmosphere of the negotiations very tense and nervous, definitely not contributing to success'.

'I think we will have to wait until further information comes out to be able to reach a conclusion (on) whether it was an intentional attack on the negotiation process or something else that just happened,' he added.

Abramovich, another Russian entrepreneur and Ukrainian MP Rustem Umerov had been taking part in the negotiations, with the talks lasting until about 10pm according to Bellingcat.