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Boris Johnson said there were signs of a “diplomatic opening” to resolve the Ukraine crisis, but there were “mixed signals” from Russia as the Kremlin claims they are withdrawing troops from Belarus and Crimea.

He added that the "intelligence that we are seeing today is still not encouraging", with Russian field hospitals being built close to Belarus' border with Ukraine.

That could only be "construed as preparation for an invasion", the Prime Minister said.

Despite Russian claims about troop withdrawals, Mr Johnson said intelligence suggested there are "130,000 troops or more, a huge number of battalions and they are stationed around the Ukrainian border."

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His statement comes as the Russian military has announced some troops have begun returning to their bases from both Belarus and Crimea after the conclusion of military exercises, the local news agency Ifax reports.

Russia's top diplomat mocked Western intelligence for naming the date of a Russian invasion as Moscow announced a partial drawdown of troops.

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