Russian troops reported to be pulling back from Ukraine border

Russian troops are pulling back from the border with Ukraine, the government in Kiev has said, calling it a positive move.

President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian forces to withdraw from Ukraine's borders on October 11th and about 17,600 soldiers, who were on drills since the summer in the Rostov region, are to be redeployed at their permanent bases, according to a statement on the Kremlin's website.

"We have information that military units that were arriving at the border with Ukraine and were deployed in camps are now seen moving to go back to areas of permanent deployment," Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko told reporters in the capital today. "The withdrawal of military units, especially aviation and armed vehicles, from the Ukrainian border is a positive process and it helps decrease tensions in the area."

Ukraine, the US and the European Union have accused the government in Moscow of providing weapons, financing and troops to pro-Russian separatists in southeastern Ukraine, an allegation Moscow denies. The two sides imposed tit-for-tat sanctions that have slowed economic growth in both the EU and Russia, causing the latter to flirt with a recession.

EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger may visit Kiev for natural gas talks next Monday, the day before the two sides are scheduled to meet with Russian representatives in Berlin, Ukraine's Energy Minister Yuri Prodan told reporters in Kiev.

The delegations are seeking to reach an accord on Russian natural gas supplies to Ukraine and to EU countries.