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Russia announced on Thursday it had completed a "snap
inspection" of military drills in its south and west after weeks
of tensions with the West over its concentration of tens of
thousands of troops near Ukraine.
Ukraine gave a guarded welcome to the troop drawdown.
"If Russia really pulls back from the border with Ukraine the
enormous military force it has deployed there, this will already
ease tensions," Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in a
statement.
"But we need to remember that this step would not put an end
neither to the current escalation, nor to the conflict between
Ukraine and Russia in general."
Washington has said it is waiting to see what actions follow
Moscow's announcement and it will "continue to watch very
closely".
On Friday, Russia said troops from its southern military
district and airborne troops that took part in the snap
inspection were beginning to rebase.
It said that military units and formations were marching to
railway loading stations and airfields.
It aired footage of armoured vehicles boarding landing ships on
a beach and other military vehicles being loaded onto trains.
Soldiers were shown marching onto a military aircraft.
A confirmed pullout of the troops brought in on top of the
permanent contingent will likely be welcomed by Western
countries which had been expressing alarm at the prospect of
further Russian intervention in eastern Ukraine.
Russian-backed separatists have been fighting the Ukrainian
government in the region since 2014.
(Reporting by Anton Kolodyazhnyy; writing by Tom Balmforth;
Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
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