French officials said Vladimir Putin had moved towards de-escalating the Ukraine crisis by promising not to undertake any new “military initiatives” and agreeing to withdraw thousands of Russian troops from Belarus after the completion of planned exercises.

If the agreement — brokered during talks with his French counterpart

Emmanuel Macron on Monday — is confirmed by Putin, it could ease tensions in the region after Russia amassed more than 100,000 troops on Ukraine’s borders.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told the Financial Times that Putin and Macron were “prepared to continue dialogue” on the French proposals but that the discussions had yet to fully assuage Moscow’s concerns.

“All these subjects require agreement from France’s EU and Nato allies, first and foremost the US,” Peskov said. “It’s too early to speak about anything else.”

Neither Putin nor Macron referred directly to such a deal at a news conference after five hours of talks, although France’s president said his Russian counterpart had assured him of his willingness to talk about de-escalation.

Putin was instead combative and critical of Nato, blaming the west and Ukraine for the crisis, but said Russia would do “everything possible to reach compromises acceptable to everyone” on European security.

“I think it’s entirely likely that some of his ideas and suggestions, even if it’s probably too early to talk about them, could become part of the basis for our next joint steps,” Putin said of Macron’s proposals.

Russia is demanding Nato pledges never to admit Ukraine and roll back its eastward expansion, essentially rewriting the entire post-cold war security order in Europe. Western officials have said those requests were unacceptable but have attempted to find common ground with Moscow on other issues, such as arms control.

Macron, who is set to meet Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, in Kyiv on Tuesday acknowledged the deep differences between Russia and the west over the Ukraine conflict and said the sides were looking for “new solutions” to ensure security and stability.