Putin briefs Merkel on Ukraine withdrawal

Russian President Vladimir Putin has informed German Chancellor Angela Merkel he has ordered a partial withdrawal of troops from a region on the border with Ukraine, her office says.

"Moreover the two discussed further possible steps to stabilise the situation in Ukraine and Transdniestr," Moldova's largely Russian-speaking breakaway region, Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert said in a statement issued on Monday.

"They agreed to stay in close contact."

The Russian defence ministry on Monday said it was pulling back a battalion from a region on the border with Ukraine but it was not clear if this was linked to a wider troop movement to defuse tensions.

A battalion from the central military district's 15th motorised infantry brigade finished manoeuvres at the Kadamovsky range in the Rostov region bordering Ukraine and would now return to its home region of Samara on the Volga, the defence ministry said in a statement to Russian news agencies.

Ukraine and the United States have accused Russia of massing tens of thousands of troops on the eastern Ukrainian border.

A Ukrainian defence ministry official had told Agence France-Presse in Kiev earlier Monday that Russian forces have began a gradual withdrawal from the Ukrainian border.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier welcomed the developments, saying they "seem to be a small sign that the situation is becoming less tense".