Ukraine cautiously welcomes move

Russia yesterday began withdrawing its armed forces that had been on manoeuvres near the borders of Ukraine following weeks of heightened tensions between Moscow and the West over the troop build-up.

Kiev's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba greeted the move with cautious optimism, saying the drawdown would help to ease tensions.

But he warned that "this step in and of itself does not halt the escalation or the conflict as a whole".

"Ukraine calls on its partners to remain vigilant for now, to continue to monitor the situation closely and to take effective measures to contain Russia," he said in a statement.

The deployment, which came amid an increase in fighting between Kiev's forces and pro-Russia eastern separatists since the start of the year, raised deep concerns in Ukraine and drew warnings to Moscow from Western allies.

Moscow said Thursday that tens of thousands of troops deployed to southern and western Russia for exercises in recent weeks would be returning to their bases.

A Nato official said Thursday that any "de-escalation by Russia" is important, while the United States had said it was "looking for action" on the troop withdrawal.

The Kremlin yesterday dismissed concerns over the exercises and said Russia was ready to improve ties with Western leaders, so long as the intention was mutual.