Russia-Ukraine updates: US to ban Russian carriers from its airspace

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that Russia has "grown tired" of listening to "threats," referring to U.S. President Joe Biden's speech the previous night.

"We'd prefer not to listen to various sorts of threats as to what would happen to us if we did something that we have no intention of doing," Peskov told reporters during a daily call.

If the United States did not issue warnings about a Russian invasion of Ukraine and threaten consequences, then perhaps the Russian people would like Americans more, Peskov said.

"We have pretty much grown tired of [the threats]," he added. "If we heard such messages that would be free of threats, the Russian people would probably like them much more."

Peskov noted that Russia hopes it would be able to begin a "negotiating process" with the U.S. over the Kremlin's demands for security guarantees that Ukraine will not join NATO, as well as confidence building measures such as limits on missile deployments and troops exercises.

Biden during his speech Tuesday night again ruled out any guarantee on Ukraine’s potential NATO membership, saying the U.S. will not sacrifice fundamental principles and that countries have a right to choose their alliances. The Biden administration, however, has offered to engage with Russia on the confidence-building measures, which Western nations have put forward in the hope of persuading the Kremlin to choose a diplomatic route out of the crisis.

-ABC News' Patrick Reevell

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that while he expects the "hysteria" in Western media outlets about the threat of a Russian invasion to continue, he hopes foreign journalists will ultimately admit that they were wrong.

During a daily call with reporters, Peskov was asked whether Western media reports that Russia would attack Ukraine on Wednesday could be described as the culmination of "information hysteria."

"Frankly, the way the Western hysteria is developing indicates there is still a long way until culmination. There won't be a remission any time soon, we should be patient," Peskov said. "Still, it is very important that Western media outlets, in this case, the British ones, say at least at the end of every day that their predictions have been wrong."

-ABC News' Anastasia Bagaeva

The Russian Ministry of Defense said Wednesday that troops from its Western Military District massed near Ukraine have completed loading their tanks and are now returning to their bases, some 1,000 kilometers (over 620 miles) away.

"Personnel of the units of the Western Military District's tank army have finished loading their tanks and tracked armored hardware onto flatbed railcars and have embarked on a 1,000-kilometer march using various means of transportation back to their permanent bases upon completion of their routine drills," the defense ministry said in a statement.

Russia has currently deployed forces from all of its military districts near Ukraine. The Russian military has said that the Western and Southern Military Districts are returning to their bases. Meanwhile, units from Russia's Eastern Military District remain in Belarus, having traveled some 10,000 kilometers (over 6,200 miles) there.

-ABC News' Patrick Reevell

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned Wednesday that Russia has still shown no signs of de-escalation on the ground, despite claims of withdrawing troops from near Ukraine.

"We have heard the signs from Moscow about the readiness to continue diplomatic efforts, but so far we have not seen any de-escalation on the ground," Stoltenberg said during a press conference outside NATO headquarters in Brussels. "On the contrary, it appears that Russia continues their military build-up."

NATO continues to monitor the situation "very closely," as it remains unclear whether Russia is pulling back, according to Stoltenberg.

"What we see is that they have increased the number of troops and more troops are on their way," he told reporters. "So, so far, no de-escalation but of course, we hear also the message about diplomacy and we are ready to engage in diplomatic efforts with Russia."

Stoltenberg explained that the Russian military has "always moved forces back and forth."

"So, just that we see movement of forces of battle tanks doesn't confirm a real withdrawal," he said. "It has been a big up and down, back and forth, all the way, but the trend over the last weeks and months has been a steady increase in the Russian capabilities close to Ukraine's borders. So Russia retains the capability of a full-fledged invasion of Ukraine without any warning time."

As of Wednesday morning, there were still approximately 100,000 Russian troops at Ukraine's borders, including in Belarus, according to Stoltenberg, who said he hopes the dialogue with Russia will continue and that the claims of withdrawal are true "because nobody has any interest in confrontation or war in Europe."

"We are at a pivotal moment in the history of Ukraine, Europe and global stability," he added. "We look forward to seeing evidence of the withdrawal of troops on Russia's part, but we need to prepare for any eventuality, with that significant escalation of Russian troops that we have seen over the last weeks and months."

Stoltenberg's comments came ahead of a meeting of the military alliance's defense ministers, including U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, to discuss the current crisis.