We'll be pausing our live coverage shortly so here's a summary of the main developments today:

• Russia says some of its troops are returning to their bases from near the Ukrainian border
• Nato says they haven't seen evidence of de-escalation on the ground, but that the signs coming out of Moscow give cause for "cautious optimism"
• Ukraine's foreign minister says he'll believe the withdrawal when he sees it
• Russian President Vladimir Putin has met German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Moscow. After their meeting, Putin said Russia does not want war but there had been no constructive response to its proposals
• UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson says there has been "mixed signals" coming from Russia but the intelligence on Ukraine is "still not encouraging"
• In the last hour, there have been reports of a cyber-attack against Ukrainian websites of organisations including the Ukrainian defence ministry and two banks

Today's live page was edited by Hugo Bachega and Lauren Turner and written by Becky Morton, Jennifer Meierhans, Jeremy Gahagan, James Harness and Leo Sands.

You can keep up to date with all the latest developments in our main story.

Russian troops remain in Belarus for nowpublished at 17:06 Greenwich Mean Time 15 February 2022

17:06 GMT 15 February 2022

Olga Ivshina
BBC Russian Service

One way to judge whether Russia's troop withdrawal is real is to watch what happens over the next few days in Belarus, where Moscow and Minsk are currently conducting joint military drills.

Russia moved thousands of troops to Belarus from Siberia and the Far East for the exercises. The units include fighter jets, air defence systems, and some of Russia's most experienced paratroopers and marines.

Those joint drills are due to finish on 20 February. If Russia withdraws its troops after that, it could be a sign that Moscow is serious about reducing its military build-up around Ukraine's borders.

Image source, Alina Pash

Away from the politicking, we've got a Eurovision Song Contest development to bring you. Alina Pash, Ukraine's Eurovision singer, has been "suspended" from competing at May's competition in Turin.

Ukraine's national broadcaster UA:PBC took the action after it was revealed that authorities are investigating a 2015 trip she made to Crimea, an area Russia seized control of in 2014.

There are strict travel rules in place over how people enter Crimea. It's not illegal for Ukrainians to visit but it can be frowned upon. Alina has provided authorities with proof of how she entered the region but that's now being scrutinised.

While investigations continue, Alina says some people claim she's un-Ukrainian. "I'm a Ukrainian girl. I'm talking in Ukrainian and my song is about Ukraine," she explains.

We've now got some details of the phone call held between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russia's Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov.

A statement from the foreign ministry in Moscow says Lavrov stressed the need for "pragmatic dialogue over the entire range of issues raised by Russia".

He also told Blinken that "aggressive rhetoric" inflated by Washington was unacceptable. But said it was necessary to continue "joint work".

Websites including the Ukrainian defence ministry and the banks PrivatBank and OshadBank have been subject to a cyber-attack, the Russia's Tass news agency reports.

The Ukrainian cybersecurity centre has said Russia could be to blame for the attack, according to Tass.

The website of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has also been affected, the Unian news agency reports.

Ukrainian websites have been affected by cyber-attacks before with Russia denying any involvement.

Helen Catt
BBC political correspondent

UK MPs have been briefed by the Defence Secretary Ben Wallace this afternoon on the current situation around Russia and Ukraine.

It's understood he repeated the government's assessment that it was not convinced Russia was standing down despite reports of troops moving away

That's because he said there had been an uptick in other activity such as stepping up the preparedness of field hospitals.

He apparently warned that, while Russia could launch an invasion within hours, it wasn't beyond the realms of possibility that the current situation continues for weeks or months.

He's also said to have told them that he believes that President Putin has still not decided whether to launch an invasion or not.

Wallace is also said to have confirmed that UK troops who were involved in training in Ukraine are now back in the UK.

Image source, PA Media

The UK should "not believe anything that's coming out of Moscow", the chairman of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee has said.

Earlier today, Russia said some troops positioned on the border with Ukraine were returning to their bases.

But Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat told BBC Radio 4's World at One programme: "[Russia] have lied and lied and lied and, surprisingly, are continuing to lie."

Addressing whether Russia would invade Ukraine, he said: "Only one person knows and he ain't speaking. And that's Vladimir Putin. We're dealing with a one-man band here."

Tugendhat says Russia's foreign ministry is "simply the barking dog outside the house of a mafia don... It's just there to make a noise".

Viktoriia Zhuhan
BBC Ukrainian, Kyiv

"When I see Maxar [satellite] imagery prove the Russian troops' withdrawal, I will believe," says mother-of-three Alina Fediai-Zyrianska, from her home in a suburb of Kyiv.

Her family were planning to launch a new business this month. But that has been put on hold because of their growing fears of war.

Alina is critical of Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, but her feelings about the news of Russia withdrawing echo the reaction from authorities there.

Mykhailo Podoliak, from the president's office, tells the BBC that state bodies need to assess the scale of the withdrawal in order to confirm if the situation is "getting back to normal".

Yesterday, Zelensky published yet another video to reassure the nation and call for unity.

Such messages are welcomed by his supporters, but some are keen to stress that a grassroots resistance is being formed, regardless of any official statements.

Alina says the president's address didn't lift her spirits. Instead, she keeps tracking website FlightRadar open - watching American drones and British planes fly over Ukraine's borders has a soothing effect, she says.

We heard earlier from UK PM Boris Johnson, who said tough sanctions were ready to go if Russia invaded Ukraine.

Now Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said there needs to be a "very tough line on sanctions" from the government after today's Cobra meeting.

He says this is important so that Russia "knows there will be serious consequences" for any action it chooses to take against Ukraine and called on "allies to stand together in the face of Russian aggression".

He says "it's not entirely clear what's happening on the border".

More diplomatic talks to de-escalate tensions over Ukraine are under way between the US and Russia.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russia's Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov are on the phone, according to the US state department.

We're also hearing that US President Joe Biden will speak on the phone later with France's President Emmanuel Macron.

Image source, EPA

Western military analysts say they need more information to judge the significance of Russia's movement of some troops back from the Ukrainian border.

Henry Boyd of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London tells Reuters news agency:

Many of the Russian forces in Belarus for drills - due to end on Sunday - have come from thousands of miles away in Russia's central and eastern military districts.

Rob Lee, a military analyst who specialises in Russia, tells Reuters the announcement was "potentially good news" but it was important to see where those forces went after the culmination of joint exercises between Russia and Belarus.

Konrad Muzyka, director of the Poland-based Rochan consultancy, tells Reuters it would take several days to verify the latest moves via satellite imagery.

Image source, Getty Images

The news conference by Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has now finished so here's a summary of the main points:

• Putin has said Russia doesn't want war but there has been no constructive response to the proposals it had put forward
• He says the issue of whether Ukraine would be allowed to join Nato in the future needs to be resolved now, even though Ukraine is far from even starting a membership application
• However, he says Moscow is still prepared to discuss some issues, including European security and missiles
• Scholz has said the build-up of Russian troops on the Ukrainian border is a threat and "incomprehensible"
• He has called for de-escalation in the region, saying the territorial integrity of Ukraine is "non-negotiable"
• Addressing concerns about the Nord Stream 2 pipeline between Russia and Germany, which is complete but not yet operating, Scholz says his country is committed to ensuring gas transportation in Europe functions but adds a war in Ukraine would have "far-reaching consequences"

Business as usual 50km from Russian borderpublished at 15:13 Greenwich Mean Time 15 February 2022

15:13 GMT 15 February 2022

Orla Guerin
BBC international correspondent, Mariupol

If the shops are anything to go by, it's business as usual in the port city of Mariupol in eastern Ukraine, even though the Russian border is only 50km (31 miles) away. We found customers ambling through the well-stocked aisles of one local supermarket. There was no panic buying and no shortages.

Tatiana, aged 74 - who was carefully perusing the sausage selection - was adamant that fellow Slavs would not attack Ukraine. "The invasion is just in our heads," she told me. "Nobody is going to invade. Nobody will beat their brothers."

The tension may now be easing somewhat, but eastern Ukraine has already been a battleground for the past eight years.

Kremlin backed separatists are dug in about 15km for Mariupol. War is already part of the landscape. Some here say - quietly - that they are now afraid of a much bigger conflict, but there's no hint of an exodus.

Close to the border we saw no sign of trouble on the horizon. The only thing coming down the road from the Russian border were tractors, not tanks. But Moscow's designs on Ukraine are a long-term project.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Reuters

Putin is asked about the expansion of Nato.

The Russian president says over the last 30 years we've been told there would be no expansion of Nato at all, yet today we see infrastructure "right on our doorstep".

Putin queries when Ukraine’s Nato membership would be accepted. Ukraine hasn't even started an application process, and experts say the country is far from being in a position to do so.

"We need to resolve this question now, we need to resolve this question over the course of these negotiations," he says.

"We hope very much our concern will be heard by our partners and taken seriously."

Russia's core demand now is for the West to guarantee Ukraine will not join Nato, a defensive alliance of 30 countries.

Asked about Nord Stream 2, Chancellor Scholz says Germany has made a commitment to ensuring gas transportation in Europe functions.

He says Germany wants to make sure there will not be war over Ukraine as this would have "far reaching consequences".

President Putin has accused Ukraine of committing acts of genocide against areas held by the Moscow-backed rebels in the eastern Donbas region.

"In our view what is now happening in Donbas is genocide," he tells the news conference.

Putin has made similar accusations before in reference to the issue of discrimination against Russian speakers beyond its borders, many of whom live in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.

In December he said that Russophobia was the first step towards genocide. His claims have been dismissed as propaganda.

A bit more from Scholz. He says he wants Vladimir Putin to send his negotiators with a “positive mandate so we can achieve progress”.

The German chancellor adds “security can only be achieved with Russia, not against Russia.”

He says Nato and Europe are united in thinking that a solution must be found, no matter how difficult. We all need to be brave and responsible in our actions, he says.

Scholz adds “war has become unthinkable in Europe and we have to make sure it stays that way”.

President Putin is asked if he can exclude the possibility of war in Europe.

He references Chancellor Scholz's earlier comments that his generation cannot imagine war in Europe - but points out the continent has seen war in Yugoslavia in the 1990s, which he claims was initiated by Nato.

Putin says Russia does not want war and so has put forward proposals to start a negotiation process - but he says there has been no constructive response to Russia's proposals.

However, he adds that there are still issues put forward by Nato and the US which could be discussed.

We're hearing from German Chancellor Olaf Scholz too. He says the troop build-up on the Ukraine border is seen as a threat and is "incomprehensible".

He demands "de-escalation" in the region and says it's important that "no war will follow".

Scholz says territorial integrity is "non-negotiable" and it's his wish that there is dialogue. Talks must not come to a "dead end", he adds.

President Putin says basic requirements have not been met by Nato and that it has an obligation not to strengthen its security at the expense of other countries.

However, he says he is prepared to discuss the issues of European security and missiles.