A spokesman for the Russian Ministry of Defense reported in a video posted online that large - scale maneuvers continue across the country, but some units in the southern and western military regions have completed their exercises and started returning to their bases.

The Russian Ministry of Defence confirmed that some forces in the military areas adjacent to Ukraine began to return to their bases after completing exercises, in a move that would ease the dispute between Moscow and the West.

United States Ambassador to NATO Julian Smith commented on reports that Russia had withdrawn a number of its troops in the military areas adjacent to Ukraine and returned to its bases after completing exercises.

In a press brief on the phone, Smith said: "We do not know if Russia has taken a decision to limit the escalation," noting that "the coming days will reveal the purpose of the recent moves."

She added: "We are trying to verify reports of the withdrawal of Russian troops from border areas. We continue to assess the situation on the Ukrainian border, and we will decide our position and make our decisions accordingly."

The US official explained that "the best way to resolve differences with Russia is to sit at the dialogue table through the Council of Russia and NATO."

Video footage published by the Russian Ministry of Defence showed the loading of some tanks and other armoured vehicles on rail vehicles.

The Interfax news agency quoted Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuliba as saying that Kiev would not "believe in de-escalation until it sees the withdrawal of Russian forces."

For his part, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson considered that intelligence information on the Russian presence on the Ukrainian border was "still not encouraging" despite the announcement that some troops had been withdrawn and Moscow saying it was "open to dialogue."

At the conclusion of a crisis meeting on Ukraine, Johnson said that "Russia is showing an openness to dialogue, but on the other hand the intelligence information we have today is still not encouraging."

He referred to "Russian field hospitals established near the Ukrainian border in Belarus" and "more tactical groups approaching the border."