First is an excerpt from an article by Ben Aris at Intellinews, which provides a few more details about the proposal by Ukraine that came out of yesterday’s negotiations.

By Ben Aris, Intellinews, 3/29/22

The Ukraine delegation has offered a compromise in the form of a written commitment from Kyiv to abandon plans to regain Crimea and Sevastopol using military force, Medinsky said after the talks were over.

“These guarantees of security do not cover the territory of Crimea and Sevastopol, which means that Ukraine abolishes its intent to return Crimea and Sevastopol military, claiming that this would only be possible via negotiations,” Medinsky said as cited by Tass. “Of course, this does not correspond to our position in any way, but Ukraine has formulated its approach.”

The proposals would include a 15-year consultation period on the status of Russian-annexed Crimea, and could come into force only in the event of a complete ceasefire, the Ukrainian negotiators said…

…The comments from the Russia delegation suggest that the issue of the Donbas region is not resolved. The Ukrainian proposal on Crimea amounts to an offer to “agree to disagree” over the Crimea, but offers guarantees that Kyiv will not use force to try to regain the peninsula.

Resolving the disagreements over Donbas remains a sticking point. Russia’s Donbas and Crimea demands are “not realistic,” Turkish presidential spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin said in an interview with CNN on March 27.

Russia’s request to recognise the annexation of Crimea and independence of Donbas is a “very maximalist” position, Kalin said, adding that giving away territory is “off the table” and that Russia “should really come up with some other ideas.”

“These are the red lines for the Ukrainians in the Crimea and Donbas, and rightly so, because they pertain directly to Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. We have not recognised the annexation of Crimea as, like the rest of the world, even China has not recognised the annexation of Crimea …They [the Russians] should really come up with some other ideas,” he told CNN on the sidelines of the Doha Forum.

Next is an excerpt from reporting by The Bell, which provides some insight from an insider in the Russian government:

The talks in Istanbul on Tuesday lasted about four hours. For Ukraine, it was important to put forward proposals Russia could accept, a source familiar with Moscow’s position told The Bell. Russia was prepared to move toward a genuine agreement because any further military advance would mean fighting in major cities and a repeat of the destruction of Mariupol, the source believes.

The head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, said Ukraine’s written proposals would be submitted to President Vladimir Putin prior to a discussion at Foreign Minister level. A presidential meeting between Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy would take place only when a peace treaty was ready, he said.

It is assumed that any ceasefire would include agreements on a neutral, nuclear-free Ukraine with security guarantees. Further clauses would ensure mutual respect for languages and cultures. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he would like to broker similar agreements with all Ukraine’s other neighbors: Poland, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Belarus and Moldova.

“Reduction of military activity”

Russia’s deputy minister of defense, Alexander Fomin, made the biggest announcement of the day – about a “dramatic, manifold reduction in military activity” around Kyiv and Chernihiv.

On the one hand, this is merely a statement of the fact – over the past week Russian forces have made no serious advances in these areas and the Ministry of Defense stated Friday that Russian forces will concentrate their resources on “liberating Donbas”. Medinsky later clarified that the Ministry of Defense statement did not amount to a ceasefire.

However, this is the first time the Russian military has made such a statement – and followed it up with action on the ground. Within an hour of Fomin’s comments, a U.S. intelligence source said the U.S. was indeed observing the partial withdrawal of Russian forces near Kyiv and Chernihiv.

Any decision on a complete ceasefire has been postponed. It seems that both sides feel time is on their side and hope to occupy territory that can bolster their negotiating positions, the source close to the talks told The Bell.