Russia says pulling back some forces following military training drills near Ukraine

Russia announced Tuesday that a select number of units participating in military exercises will return to their bases, sparking hope the Kremlin may not invade Ukraine in the coming days.

Russia, however, did no say how many troops would be pulled back or from where.

On Monday, Russia's foreign minister signaled that the country was prepared to continue talking about the issues that led to the current conflict. But just before Russia announced such a move, a U.S. defense official said Russian units were inching closer to the Ukrainian border.

The U.S. intelligence community had indicated could launch an attack as soon as Wednesday. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin recently started the military buildup along the Ukraine border essentially in opposition to the country's interest in joining the Western-allied North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Following days of meetings with various European leaders, Moscow's remains unchanged in that essential position, wanting a guarantee from NATO that Ukraine and other former Soviet countries will not be allowed to join.

To match Russia's 130,000 troops, the U.S. and its NATO allies have sent thousands of troops and military supplies toward the western flank of Ukraine and alluded to more financial help imminently. 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Russia's military drills occur exclusively on "its own territory and according to its own plans, they start, go on and end as planned" regardless of who "gets hysterical about it."

The Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, expressed skepticism about the Russian pullback.

"Russia constantly makes various statements," he said. "That's why we have the rule: We won’t believe when we hear, we'll believe when we see. When we see troops pulling out, we’ll believe in de-escalation." 

The Ukrainians appear hopeful that diplomacy will continue to work to stave off the potential advance of the Russians.

On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky declared that Wednesday would be a "day of national unity," as the country prepares for a potential invasion.