U.S. diplomat dismisses reports of troop withdrawals in Eastern Europe

The United States' top diplomat to NATO has dismissed reports on Friday that the US is preparing to offer reduced troop numbers in Eastern Europe ahead of talks next week with Russia over Ukraine border tensions.

"The administration is not preparing options to pull forces in Eastern Europe," the US ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith said on Twitter after broadcaster NBC first reported on changes to troop numbers in Poland and in the Baltics under consideration.

Crucial talks on Monday between Moscow and Washington aim to defuse tensions after months of concerns in the West that Russian President Vladimir Putin could launch an incursion into Ukrainian territory akin to 2014, when Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula.

Russia rejects accusations that it is preparing for an invasion of Ukraine, and in turn accuses Ukraine of having moved troops towards the Donbas region, which is controlled by pro-Russian separatists.

Putin has also demanded that NATO rule out its further eastward enlargement, including a pledge not to admit Ukraine to the alliance.

Russia says it feels its security is threatened by NATO's advance: Many former communist states that were either part of or closely tied to the Soviet Union have joined NATO since the end of the Cold War.

The Western military alliance has dismissed however the idea it could present a threat to Moscow and has slammed the claim as absurd.

Ukraine is a close ally of NATO but is not a member.