Russia-Ukraine war live updates: U.S., Ukraine skeptical of Moscow's claims it will scale back military

U.S. and Ukrainian officials were dubious of Russia’s claims that it will "drastically" reduce military operations around the Ukrainian capital, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying Tuesday that “positive” signals from ongoing negotiations do not “drown out the ruptures of Russian shells."

In the United States, President Joe Biden said that he won’t “read anything” to the claims “until I see what their actions are.” Biden said the U.S. has no plans to withdraw sanctions or military aid to Ukraine.

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby was also skeptical, describing the Russian military movements as a “repositioning” and saying that only a small number of troops had moved. “We are not prepared to call this a retreat or even a withdrawal,” Kirby told reporters, warning that the shift may foreshadow a “major” offensive elsewhere in the country.

Earlier, Russia's deputy defense minister said Moscow would scale back its military presence near Kyiv as Russian and Ukrainian delegations met in Istanbul for a round of peace talks.

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