Following Tuesday's talks in Istanbul, Russia's deputy defense minister announced that he would "reduce his military presence" in the area around Ukraine's capital.
This is to improve the conditions in the ongoing conversations.
It is difficult to know whether the outcome is part of a negotiation or the result of a failed offensive, says Joakim Paasikivi.
- It is a first bargaining chip of course, but I think it is just as much driven by the fact that those unions have been quite badly used.
They have not achieved success in Kyiv and they are shaking their foreheads bloody in Chernivtsi, he says.
According to Paasikivi, it is good for Russia to withdraw troops now.
- Had it been a more honest negotiation offer, a ceasefire would have been negotiated all over the country, he says.
Russia could use the opportunity to reallocate its forces to fight elsewhere or to recover and return, Paasikivi said.
- So far we have not seen any movement at all, it is too early to say.