The number of Russian troops deployed on the border with Ukraine is decreasing, a Ukrainian defense ministry official said at a news conference on Monday, adding that it was not possible to verify how many had left so far.
But Major-General Oleksandr Rozmaznin told journalists the drop in numbers might reflect a scheduled rotation of conscripts.
"The number of soldiers has fallen, but the exact figure is pretty approximate. I cannot confirm the number," said Rozmaznin when asked if as many as 10,000 soldiers might have left the border.
Meanwhile, Ukraine denounced the visit of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to Crimea, describing it as a "crude violation" of the rules of international behavior.
"The Ukrainian foreign ministry, in its note to the Russian Federation, expressed a categorical protest and stated that the visit of an official person to the territory of another state without preliminary agreement is a crude violation of the rules of the international community," ministry spokesman Evhen Perebiynis told journalists.
Medvedev took several government officials with him on the highest-level visit to Crimea since President Vladimir Putin signed legislation on absorbing it into Russia on March 21.
"(I'm) in Simferopol," Medvedev said on Twitter after his plane landed in the main city in the region. "Today the government will discuss the development of Crimea here."
Russia's swift takeover of Crimea, following the ouster of Moscow ally Viktor Yanukovich as Ukraine's president in late February, has caused the biggest crisis in East-West relations since the Cold War.
Medvedev arrived in Simferopol hours after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Paris late on Sunday and reiterated that Washington considered Russia's actions in Crimea "illegal and illegitimate".
A reduction in the number of Russian troops deployed on the border with Ukraine is a small sign that the stand-off over Crimea is becoming less tense, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on Monday.The United States and EU have imposed sanctions on Russian officials, lawmakers and allies of Putin over Crimea. They are threatening broader measures if Russia, which has forces massed near Ukraine's eastern border, seeks to take more territory.
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"I hope we have overcome the worst escalation," Steinmeier told a joint news conference with his French and Polish counterparts.
"Only today there was news that the massive build-up of Russian forces on the east Ukraine border had been slightly reduced. That seems to be a small signal that the situation is become less tense."
He said Europe had to ensure that no further parts of Ukraine were annexed by Russia and this would involve not just the threat of sanctions but also continuing dialogue.
REUTERS