Talks open in Turkey as Russia says it will reduce attacks on northern Ukraine

LVIV, Ukraine — Russian and Ukrainian negotiators opened a new round of talks Tuesday to try to halt the war between their nations, with Moscow saying that it would reduce attacks on northern Ukraine in what it characterized, in part, as a gesture of goodwill.

The statement by Russian defense officials that they would curb assaults around Kyiv and the hard-hit city of Chernihiv came as Ukrainian troops continued to mount stiff resistance in those areas. Russian forces have been bogged down outside the capital for weeks, unable to break through into the heart of the city. In a sign that a reduction in attacks might already have begun, no new missile attacks were reported overnight in Kyiv.

But regional officials reported shelling