Russia repositions troops away from Kyiv, marking a shift in the war

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with government members via a video link at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, Russia, March 23, 2022.

The Pentagon's John Kirby said Tuesday that the Russian military has begun to move some of its troops away from the areas around Kyiv to other locations.

Kirby told reporters at the Pentagon that their plan was to occupy and annex Ukraine using approaches along three lines of attack.

Russian troops convoys have been stuck in the north and south around the capital.

He said that Russia had failed in its goal of capturing Kyiv.

Kirby said that the troop movements do not amount to a retreat.

Kirby spoke several hours after a member of the Russian negotiating team in Istanbul announced that the Ministry of Defense had decided to reduce military activity in the direction of Chernikyiv.

The reduced military activity was meant to increase mutual trust and create necessary conditions for further negotiations, according to the Kremlin official.

Markets rose early Tuesday on the news that Russia had reduced military activity and that it meant the invasion would soon be over.

The idea that Putin and the Kremlin were acting in good faith was dismissed by leaders on both sides of the Atlantic.

President Joe Biden said Tuesday in response to a question about the Russian pledge to scale back troops in the north.

In the meantime, we're going to keep strong sanctions.

The leaders of Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom and France were talking with Biden. A spokesman for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that he put little stock in Russia's announcement.

Johnson told the other leaders on the call that they must judge Putin's regime by their actions not their words.

After the call with Putin, the French President spoke to him. The city of Mariupol has been under siege by Russian troops for several weeks.

The humanitarian situation in Mariupol, where thousands of civilians have been killed by Russian troops, will not improve until Putin admits responsibility, according to reports.

Given that the Ukrainian military is fighting on Ukrainian soil, Putin's demand that they surrender their weapons to Russian soldiers appeared cynical.

Western officials will be watching closely in the coming days to see if Russian troops move to Eastern Ukraine and if Russia expands its military draft to conscript more soldiers.

It's not clear if more soldiers would give the Kremlin a strategic advantage over the Ukrainians.

Kirby said Tuesday that no amount of spin can mask what the world has seen over the past month.