By John Ikani
Russia’s Ministry of Defense on Tuesday said that some of the country’s forces that had massed close to its border with Ukraine over the last four months were being pulled back to their bases.
European leaders are headed to the region on Tuesday for last-minute diplomacy, buoyed by signals from the Kremlin that there was still a way to head off a feared invasion and avoid war.
Local news agency Ifax, reports quoted the Defence Ministry as saying large-scale drills continued but that some units were returning to their bases.
More than 100,000 Russian troops have massed at Ukraine’s border. Russia has always denied it is planning an attack.
The build-up has brought increasingly grave warnings, with the US saying an invasion could come at any time.
Russia has been seeking guarantees that Ukraine will not be allowed to join Nato, something the security bloc has rejected.
While noting that Tuesday’s pullback was planned, the Defence Ministry added that Russia would continue to move troops across the country as it saw fit.
The Ministry provided no numbers, and it was unclear exactly where along Russia’s long border with Ukraine the movements might be occurring.
If confirmed, the movements could be taken as the first significant step by Russia to deescalate a crisis that has brought the world closer to a major conflict in Europe than it has been in decades.
President Joe Biden had warned that a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine could leave 100,000 civilians dead and fundamentally change the world.
