"De-escalation in the direction of Kyiv and Chernihiv does not mean a ceasefire," said Russian president's aide Vladimir Medinsky who leads the Russian delegation in talks held in Istanbul with Ukraine, APA's Moscow bureau reports.
According to him, Russia regularly strives for de-escalation at least in the direction of Kyiv and Chernihiv.
Putin's aide stressed that Russia does not want to subject Kyiv to great military risk: "We do not want to subject this city (Kyiv) to additional military risk".