Russia is 'gradually withdrawing' its troops from the border with Ukraine

Russia is 'progressively withdrawing' its troops deployed on the border with Ukraine, announced on Monday a spokesman of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, who feared an invasion in the country, after losing Crimea.

"Russian forces gradually withdraw from the border," said spokesman Dmitraşkivski Olek. "Probably it has to do with the need to provide a replacement. Another hypothesis is that it was related to the negotiations between Russia and the U.S.," from Sunday evening in Paris.

On Thursday, the chairman of the national security of Ukraine, Andrei Parubi, said that Moscow has amassed 100,000 troops along the border with Ukraine. The U.S. talked about the presence of 20,000 troops and make the withdrawal a prerequisite to any exit from the crisis, like the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry reiterated after a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

Russia denied that troops are massed at the border, explaining that recent international inspections have revealed no unusual military activity and are accusing the West of bad faith.

Saturday, Lavrov said that Moscow "has absolutely no intention or interest" to cross the border with Ukraine.