Pentagon views Russian claim of withdrawal from Kyiv with skepticism

"Has there been some movement by some Russian units away from Kyiv in the last day or so? Yes, we think so. Small numbers," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told a news briefing.

Kirby also told reporters that U.S. troops in Poland were "liaising" with Ukrainian forces as they hand over weapons to them, but it was not training "in the classic sense."

Kirby did not provide details on what exactly the interactions entail.

Kirby added that additional aircraft, including 10 F-18 jets, and more than 200 personnel would be headed to eastern Europe, including Lithuania.

U.S. President Joe Biden also said it remains to be seen whether Russia follows through with any actions to scale down its military operations in Ukraine, saying Washington and its allies will continue with strong sanctions and aid for Ukraine.

"We'll see if they follow through with what they're suggesting" as Moscow-Kyiv negotiations continue, he told reporters at the White House following his meeting with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore. "We're going to continue to keep a close eye on what's going on."

Lee expressed his country's condemnation of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"Singapore is a staunch supporter of international law and the UN Charter, which prohibits acts of aggression against a sovereign state. And that's why we've strongly condemned the unprovoked attack by Russia on Ukraine," he said. "The sovereignty, political independence and territorial integrity of all countries, big and small, must be respected."

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also said on Tuesday has not seen "signs of real seriousness" by Russia in pursuing peace after its invasion of Ukraine, adding that Moscow should end its aggression now and pull its forces back.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the signals from peace talks with Russia could be called positive but added that they did not drown out the explosions from Russian shells.

In a late-night address, Zelenskiy also expressed caution about Russia's promise to sharply curtail military action in some areas and said Ukraine would not be easing off its defensive efforts.

Russia and Ukraine have been holding peace negotiations in an Istanbul palace. Zelenskiy said Kyiv saw no reason to believe in words from some Russian representatives.

"We can say the signals we are receiving from the talks are positive but they do not drown out the explosions of Russian shells," he said, adding that Ukraine could only trust a concrete result from the talks.

Earlier in the day, Russia promised to scale down military operations around Ukraine's capital and north.

Zelenskiy said that despite this vow, "the situation has not become easier ... the Russian army still has significant potential to continue attacks against our state." He added: "Therefore we are not reducing our defensive efforts."

Zelenskiy reiterated that for any peace deal to work, Russian troops would have to leave and there could be no compromise on Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.