Russia says some troops are returning to base after drills

Bloomberg

Russia announced the start of a pullback of some forces after drills that raised US and European alarm about a possible military assault on Ukraine.
Markets rallied on news of the withdrawal as investors took the move as a sign of possible de-escalation by Russia amid a major diplomatic push following weeks of warnings from the US and Europe about the risks of a conflict. The Kremlin has consistently denied it plans an attack and President Vladimir Putin endorsed continued talks with the West.
The US and Nato have warned that Russia has massed some 130,000 troops near the border with Ukraine in preparation for a possible invasion and demanded a withdrawal to ease tensions. Russia has rejected the accusations while saying movements of forces on its own territory are an internal matter. Russia is continuing its largest drills in years in neighbouring Belarus that are due to finish on February 20 and is conducting naval exercises in the Black Sea that are scheduled to wrap up.
Putin has called for the US and its allies to give sweeping security guarantees, including a ban on further expansion of
the North Atlantic Treaty Organization that would include a refusal of future membership for Ukraine. They have rejected his demands but offered talks on other security issues including on missile restrictions and measures to build confidence. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov described those proposals as “constructive” and recommended to continue talks at a meeting with Putin, while also extending efforts to attain the broader guarantees.
Russia is confident that diplomatic efforts aimed at resolving the stand-off will succeed, Lavrov said. “Overall we can work out a fairly good package solution,” he said in Moscow.
The announcement of a Russian pullback offers “reason for cautious optimism,” Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels. “So far, we haven’t seen any sign of de-escalation on the ground” and Russia’s military presence remains capable of an attack,
he said.
Units of Russia’s Western and Southern military districts are already loading equipment onto road and rail transport after completing their drills and will begin returning to their permanent bases on Tuesday, Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a video posted on its website. Other military units are continuing drills at training grounds in Russia and “as soon as the combat training activities are completed, the troops, as always, will” return to their bases, he said.
The withdrawal was announced hours before Putin began a meeting in Moscow with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the latest Western leader to hold talks with him on the crisis. Putin had separate phone calls with US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron, who also travelled to Moscow for nearly six hours of talks with the Kremlin leader.
After warning that a Russian invasion could take place as soon as this week, the US has evacuated its embassy from Kyiv and urged American citizens to leave Ukraine. The Kremlin has dismissed US claims as “hysteria,” while accusing the government in Kyiv of preparing to try to retake by force regions in eastern Ukraine held by Russian-backed separatists. Ukraine denies this.