A day after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov indicated that his country was ready to continue the "security grievances" talks that led to the Ukrainian crisis, a change of tone after weeks of heightened tension.

The Kremlin confirmed that a planned withdrawal of part of the Russian forces deployed at the border with Ukraine had begun,

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: "We have always said that after the training, the soldiers will return to their permanent bases. There's nothing new here. It's a normal process. "

The move offers a glimmer of hope that the Kremlin may not be planning an invasion of Ukraine soon, although no details on the withdrawal have been given.

However, Western officials continued to warn of an invasion at

It was not clear where the Russian Ministry of Defence said it was deploying, or how many troops would leave, making it more difficult to assess the importance of this step.

The Russian decision pushed up world markets and rubles, but Ukraine's leaders expressed doubts.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Koleba said: "Russia makes consistently disparate statements. That's why we have a rule: We won't believe when we hear, we'll believe when we see. When