Russia says it is pulling back some of its troops from the Ukrainian border

• Russia on Tuesday said it was pulling some troops from the Ukrainian border after military drills.
• Ukraine and NATO cast doubt over whether Russia was really deescalating.

The Russian defense ministry on Tuesday said it was pulling some of its troops from Ukraine's border.

The announcement came after weeks of heightened tensions between Moscow and the West over fears that Russia might invade Ukraine.

"The units of the southern and western military districts, having completed their tasks, have already begun loading onto rail and road transport and will begin moving to their military garrisons today," defense ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov said in a statement.

Russian officials, however, left it unclear how many troops would be withdrawing. Their statements prompted skepticism from Western officials, some of whom noted they have yet to see signs of a significant pull-back.

Some of Russia's military exercises, including with its ally Belarus — which also shares a border with Ukraine — were still continuing as of Tuesday, the defense ministry said.

Konashenkov suggested that other troops stationed at Ukraine's border could follow suit. "As the combat training measures are completed, the troops, as always, will make marches in a combined way to the points of permanent deployment," he said.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov later confirmed the start of a withdrawal and slammed Western "hysteria" over the reality of an invasion.

'Don't believe what you hear — believe what you see'

Ukraine responded to Russia's announcement by urging it to pull back all its forces from the border.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in a tweet said, "We in Ukraine have a rule: we don't believe what we hear, we believe what we see."

"If a real withdrawal follows these statements, we will believe in the beginning of a real de-escalation," Kuleba added.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also said Tuesday that the troop withdrawal did not equate to a "real deescalation."

"There are signs from Moscow that diplomacy should continue. This gives grounds for cautious optimism," he said.

In remarks from the White House on Tuesday afternoon, Biden said the US has not yet "verified" Russia's claim that it's pulled some troops back.

"Our analyst indicate that they remain very much in a threatening position," Biden said. "An invasion remains distinctly possible."

'The day Western war propaganda failed'

Russia has in recent months amassed tens of thousands of troops near its border with Ukraine, with the Kremlin insisting that this is in response to Western aggression and to conduct military drills. Biden on Tuesday said Russia had gathered over 150,000 troops near Ukraine, which was up from the prior estimate of roughly 130,000.

Both the US and the UK warned this week that Russia could invade any day.

Following the defense ministry's announcement, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Tuesday's date would "go down in history as the day Western war propaganda failed."

"Humiliated and destroyed without a single shot fired," she said.

At a meeting on Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was seen telling Russian President Vladimir Putin that a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine crisis was still on the table.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday said the US Embassy in Kyiv was "temporarily relocating" to Lviv, a city in western Ukraine, "due to the dramatic acceleration in the buildup of Russian forces."

After meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Moscow on Tuesday, Putin said that Russia was ready to continue talks with the US and NATO on Moscow's security concerns, per the Associated Press. But Putin also accused the West of ignoring Russia's primary demands.

Among other things, Russia has insisted that Ukraine and Georgia be permanently banned from joining NATO. The alliance and Washington have repeatedly said this demand is a non-starter. NATO has not taken steps to make Ukraine a member at any point in the near future. But Putin on Tuesday said that he wanted the issue addressed "now" through negotiations.