As Russia pulls out some troops, hopes rise that crisis will ease

MOSCOW • The tone of the crisis over Ukraine has shifted, with Russia yesterday saying some of its military units were returning to their bases after exercises near Ukraine, following days of US and British warnings that Moscow might invade its neighbour at any time.

The pullout came a day after Russia's top diplomat, Mr Sergey Lavrov, endorsed more talks to resolve the stand-off with the West.

"I believe that our possibilities are far from exhausted. I would propose continuing and intensifying them," Mr Lavrov told President Vladimir Putin.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials have hinted at offering concessions to avert war - even as Russian warships massed off Ukraine's Black Sea coast and Russian ground troops appeared poised to strike.

Separately, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and US President Joe Biden agreed in a call on Monday that a "crucial window for diplomacy" remained over the crisis in Ukraine, Mr Johnson's office said. "They agreed there remained a crucial window for diplomacy and for Russia to step back from its threats towards Ukraine," a Downing Street spokesman added of the call between the transatlantic allies.

"The leaders emphasised that any further incursion into Ukraine would result in a protracted crisis for Russia, with far-reaching damage for both Russia and the world."

They also stressed that diplomatic discussions with Russia remained "the first priority", and welcomed talks that have already taken place between Russia and Nato allies, according to the spokesman.

"We've always said the troops will return to their bases after the exercises are over. This is the case this time as well," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

He accused the United States of fuelling the crisis by warning repeatedly of an impending invasion, to the point where Mr Peskov said President Putin had made jokes about it.

"He asks (us) to find out if the exact time, to the hour, of the start of the war has been published. It's impossible to be understanding of this manic information madness," Mr Peskov told reporters.

It was not clear how many units were being withdrawn by Russia, and by what distance, after a build-up of an estimated 130,000 Russian troops to the north, east and south of Ukraine.

The news drew a cautious response from Ukraine and Britain, but prompted a sharp rally on financial markets.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Kyiv would believe that Russia was moving to de-escalate the situation only if it saw for itself that Russian troops were being pulled back.

"If we see a withdrawal, we will believe in a de-escalation," Interfax Ukraine quoted him as saying.

"The Russians have claimed that they have no plans for an invasion, but we will need to see a full-scale removal of troops to show that is true," British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss told LBC radio.

A Russian Defence Ministry spokesman said that while large-scale drills across the country continued, some units of the Southern and Western military districts adjacent to Ukraine had completed their exercises and started returning to base.

The Southern military district said its forces had started withdrawing from Crimea and returning to their bases after completing drills on the peninsula, which Russia seized from Ukraine in 2014.

Video footage published by the Defence Ministry showed some tanks and other armoured vehicles being loaded onto railway flatcars.

The latest movements came after commercial satellite images taken on Sunday and Monday showed a flurry of Russian military activity at several locations near Ukraine, according to the private US company that released the pictures.

REUTERS, NYTIMES, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE