Russia says some of the nation's troops are returning to base after exercises near Ukraine, but NATO says it has yet to see any evidence of a de-escalation that could avert a military conflict.

Russia did not say how many units were being withdrawn, after a build-up of some 130,000 Russian troops on Ukraine's borders that has triggered one of the worst crises in Russian relations with the West since the Cold War.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the reported pullback needed to be seen to be believed.

"If we see a withdrawal, we will believe in a de-escalation," Interfax Ukraine quoted Mr Kuleba as saying.

NATO's Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed signals from Russia in the past two days that it may be looking for a diplomatic solution but urged Moscow to demonstrate its will to act.

"There are signs from Moscow that diplomacy should continue," Mr Stoltenberg said.

"This gives grounds for cautious optimism. But so far we have not seen any sign of de-escalation on the ground from the Russian side."

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was also sceptical and said: "The intelligence that we're seeing today is still not encouraging".

Russia's Interfax news agency cited the defence ministry as saying that while large-scale drills across the country continued, some units had completed their exercises and started returning to base.

Russia denies planning to invade, but says it needs the West needs to take its security worries about Ukraine joining NATO seriously.

Mr Putin said Russia would not be satisfied with talk that the former Soviet republic was not ready to join any time soon and was demanding that the issue be resolved now.

"That is why we put forward proposals for a negotiation process, the result of which should be an agreement on ensuring equal security for everyone, including our country."

Video footage provided by the defence ministry and published by the RIA news agency showed some tanks and other armoured vehicles being loaded onto railway flatcars.

The ministry said it would use trucks to move some hardware while some troops would march to bases on their own.

Commercial satellite images taken on Sunday and Monday showed a flurry of Russian military activity at several locations near Ukraine, the private US company that released the pictures said.

US-based Maxar Technologies pointed to the arrival of several large deployments of troops and attack helicopters as well as new deployments of ground-attack aircraft and fighter-bomber jets to forward locations.

Russia's Defence Minister said a day earlier that some military exercises were still ongoing, while others had ended and others were wrapping up.

A joint exercise between Russia and Belarus is due to end on Sunday.

Germany presses Russia for dialogue

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said after meeting Mr Putin in the Kremlin that the withdrawal of some Russian troops was a good sign.

Mr Scholz also said diplomatic possibilities with Russia were far from exhausted.

"To my generation, war in Europe has become unimaginable. We must ensure it stays that way," he said.

The Chancellor, who took office in December, said Germany and its allies were ready for far-reaching and effective coordinated sanctions.

German sanctions could hit Moscow hard, but its position as Russia's number one trade partner in Europe and biggest consumer of Russian natural gas might also limit Berlin's room for manoeuvre.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume.

Watch

Duration: 3 minutes 5 seconds3m 5s

Move to recognise breakaway regions 

While the talk was of a troop withdrawal Russia's lower house of parliament voted on Tuesday to ask Mr Putin to recognise two Russian-backed breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine as independent.

Recognition of the self-declared Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics could kill off the Minsk peace process in east Ukraine, where a conflict between government forces and Moscow-backed separatists has killed 15,000 people.

"Kyiv is not observing the Minsk agreements," State Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin wrote on social media.

"Our citizens and compatriots who live in Donbass need our help and support."

Latvian Foreign Affairs Minister Edgars Rinkevics described the move on Twitter as "deplorable".

Loading

Europe's top diplomat Josep Borrell said the recognition would be a violation of the Minsk agreements. 

"EU support and commitment to Ukraine's independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders remains unwavering," he said.

Reuters