West remains wary of Russia's scale back claim

Western officials say Russia is building up troops in eastern Ukraine, but it's too soon to say whether Moscow's claim to be scaling back operations around Kyiv is true.

Officials familiar with the intelligence picture said Tuesday that Moscow is reinforcing troops in the Donbas in an attempt to encircle Ukraine's best-trained and best-equipped forces, which are concentrated in the eastern region.

Moscow has said gaining control of the Donbas is now its main military goal in Ukraine.

A Western official speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence said it's clear that Russia's tactics and strategies are changing but it's not yet clear what that prefigures.

The British government also expressed scepticism about Russia's claims to be scaling back and its commitment to ending the war through talks.

We will judge Putin and his regime by his actions, not by his words, said Max Blain, spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

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Washington: The White House is rejecting as false and disinformation assertions by Russia that the U.S. government is launching cyber operations against Moscow that include the theft of personal data and the spreading of false information about the Russian military.

The Russian Foreign Ministry made the assertions in a statement Tuesday.

It alleged that the U.S. and other NATO members had trained Ukrainian hackers and blamed what it said was an effort by Ukraine to recruit international hackers.

Emily Horne, a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, responded by calling the claims false and said the U.S. government has not engaged in the activity described by Russia.

She says Moscow's statements to the contrary amount to disinformation.