Russias Putin, Germanys Merkel speak over telephone on Ukraine -...

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Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke over the telephone, a Kremlin statement said on Monday, adding that both sides expressed hope for continued dialogue between authorities in Kiev and eastern Ukraine.

Earlier, the Itar-Tass news agency quoted Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, as saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will discuss the Ukraine crisis and other issues during a meeting on Tuesday in Shanghai, China.

Ban is visiting China. Putin, who is embroiled in a standoff with the West over the future of Ukraine after annexing the Crimea region, is due to begin a visit to China on Tuesday.

On another note, a NATO military officer said that NATO sees no sign of Russian troops returning to bases after drills near the Ukraine border, contradicting a report from a Russian news agency.

"We haven't seen any movement to validate (the report)," the officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said. Interfax reported that President Vladimir Putin had ordered military forces that took part in drills in three regions bordering Ukraine to return to the places where they are permanently deployed.

It was not immediately clear whether the order meant there would be fewer soldiers near the border with Ukraine, where NATO has said Russia has amassed some 40,000 troops. NATO and the United States said there were no signs of reductions after Putin said on May 7 that forces had been withdrawn from the border.

In the same regard, the Pentagon said it has not seen any indication of Russian troop movements away from Ukraine's borders despite a Kremlin announcement that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered them to return to their permanent bases.

"We have seen reports of President Putin's orders to withdraw Russian forces from the border with Ukraine. We've been clear about our call for the Russian military to work to de-escalate the tension there," Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby told Reuters.

"If those reports are valid, and if those orders are followed, such a withdrawal would be welcome. We have seen no indication of any movement."

Meanwhile, Russian news agencies quoted Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying that Russia's ties with the European Union and NATO need a "rethink" in light of deep differences over Ukraine.

"These relations require a substantial rethink, and together with our partners from the EU and NATO nations we are trying to conduct an analysis in order to better understand where we are, where our assessments coincide and where we disagree," state-run news agency RIA quoted Lavrov as saying at a meeting with Slovak
Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak.

On another note, Lavrov said Slovakia's agreement to allow reverse flows of gas to Ukraine from Europe did not violate agreements with Russia. Ukraine has been trying to increase gas purchases from Europe via Slovakia after Russia almost doubled the price of gas.

Moscow had suggested that reverse flows may violate Slovakia's contracts with state-controlled Gazprom.

"We have no complaints over that," Lavrov said.

REUTERS

Russia's Putin, Germany's Merkel speak over telephone on Ukraine