Russia has reportedly starting to draw down the amount of troops and equipment it had amassed along its border with Ukraine in an apparent attempt to ease tensions in the area, NBC News reports.

Over the past few weeks, Russia had moved troops, equipment, armor and aircraft to the area along the border with Ukraine, with Moscow saying they were there for military exercises.  Russia had also issued preliminary “overflight” warnings for commercial aircraft transiting the airspace.

The build-up, estimated to be 100,000 personnel, became so alarming that Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky made a broadcast to the citizens of Ukraine saying the nation was not seeking war, but they would “fight to the last man” to defend their country.

President Joe Biden and other Western nations were reportedly conducting behind-the-scenes talks to formulate a response of Russia increased aggression in the region.  They also undertook back-door diplomacy to warn Russian Vladimir Putin to stand-down Russian troops and to reassure Ukraine of support.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, in a statement, described the troop movements as a “surprise check” of readiness, perhaps a ploy to observe the response from Ukrainian troops and Ukrainian allies.  Russia had undertaken a similar buildup along the Baltic states in 2017, with the US military increasing fighter jet deployments to allies Lithuanian, Latvia and Estonia, much of which was questioned by Donald Trump.

Shoigu said the draw down would begin Friday, with some units not returning to their home bases until May 1st.  He described the movement of troops as part of a standard “winter period control checks” which occurs over all of Russia’s eleven time zones.

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