WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was speaking to his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, by phone on Tuesday, a senior State Department official said.

"When they last spoke, they agreed to stay in touch," the official said of Blinken and Lavrov, amid diplomatic efforts by the West to deter a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Russia said on Tuesday some of its troops were returning to base after exercises near Ukraine and mocked Western warnings about a looming invasion.

Russia's parliament asks Putin to recognise breakaway east Ukrainian regions