Russia has agreed to meet Kiev half-way and will allow a meeting of its leaders to be held on the same day that the final version of a peace treaty is pre-approved by the two nation’s foreign ministers, Moscow’s top negotiator said on Tuesday, after a new round of talks in Istanbul.

Previously, Moscow had insisted that a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky could only be set after the deal would be finalized.

Vladimir Medinsky described the talks in Turkey as “Russia’s top negotiator comments on peace-talks outcome” and said his delegation had received a clearly outlined position on what it sought to achieve. The proposal will be relayed to Putin, he said.

Coinciding with Medinsky’s statement to the press, the Russian defense ministry announced it was drastically reducing its military operations in some parts of Ukraine, including near the capital, Kiev. The ministry cited “the talks moving into the practical dimension,” as the reason for the change.

It has always been better to jaw-jaw than to war war.