Russian President Vladimir Putin says Ukraine’s presidential election on 25 May is a step “in the right direction”.  It’s not certain if Putin is reversing course from his past, more threatening statements about his southern neighbor – or, if this is some sort of delaying maneuver meant to draw his opponents into an error.

Putin is asking pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine restive east to delay their planned secession votes, referendums that might have echoed the events that led to Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region.  He said this would create conditions for dialogue between the Ukrainian authorities in Kiev and the separatists. 

One separatist leader in Donetsk said Putin’s idea would be discussed at a meeting of their self-proclaimed People's Assembly on Thursday or Friday.  They’ve already printed up three million secession ballots.

Putin also announced he was pulling Russian troops back from their position just over Ukraine’s eastern border. 

“We’re always being told that our forces on the Ukrainian border are a concern.  We have withdrawn them.  Today they are not on the Ukrainian border, they are in places where they conduct their regular tasks on training grounds,” Putin said.

NATO says it has seen no evidence that the Russians are pulling back.