Russia says some forces pulling back amid Ukraine crisis

Russia said Tuesday that some units participating in military exercises would begin returning to their bases, adding to glimmers of hope that the Kremlin may not be planning to invade Ukraine imminently. But it gave no details on where the troops were pulling back from, or how many.

That muddied efforts to determine the significance of the announcement, which buoyed world financial markets and the long-suffering ruble after weeks of escalation in Europe's worst East-West standoff in decades. It came a day after Russia's foreign minister indicated the country was ready to keep talking about the security grievances that led to the Ukraine crisis -- a gesture that changed the tenor after weeks of tensions.

Yet hours before the Russian Defence Ministry statement about the troops, a U.S. defence official said Russian units were moving closer to the Ukrainian border -- not away from it. And Western officials continued to warn Tuesday that the Russian military could attack at any time, with some floating Wednesday as a possible invasion day.

The fears of an invasion grew from the fact that Russia has massed more than 130,000 troops near Ukraine. Russia denies it has any such plans, despite placing troops on Ukraine's borders to the north, south and east and launching massive military drills nearby. U.S. and other NATO allies, meanwhile, have moved troops and military supplies toward Ukraine's western flank, and promised more financial aid to the ex-Soviet nation.

In announcing the pullback, the Russian Defence Ministry did not indicate where the troops had been deployed or how many were leaving.