Prime Minister Scott Morrison has indicated Australia won't send troops to Ukraine in the event of an invasion by Russia but will provide practical assistance to allies.
NATO says it still sees no drawdown of Russian troops from near the Ukrainian border, two days after Moscow announced it would reduce its presence there, raising hopes of detente in a tense situation.
The United States says the diplomatic path remains open to end a stand-off with Moscow over Ukraine but said the risk of Russian military action was high enough to warrant pulling US embassy staff out of Kyiv.
