Russia's defense ministry said Thursday that four trains and more than a dozen planes had taken equipment and troops away from regions bordering Ukraine.

After President Vladimir Putin ordered the troops to return to bases, four trains loaded with arms and 15 Ilyushin-76 transport planes carrying troops departed from bases in the Rostov, Belgorod and Bryansk regions on Wednesday, the ministry said in a statement.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden met Cyprus leaders Thursday to spur talks on ending their island's 40-year division and seek support for threatened sanctions against Russia.

After talks with President Nicos Anastasiades, the Greek Cypriot leader, and Turkish Cypriot counterpart Dervis Eroglu, Biden cautioned against overstating the role of the United States in reunification efforts.

A meeting that was scheduled to be held between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and al-Mustaqbal movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri was postponed due to the sensitive political situation in Lebanon, Russian sources said.

The talks had been set for Thursday.

The United States said Wednesday it had spotted movement of Russian troops along the Ukrainian border but said it was too soon to tell if a withdrawal promised by President Vladimir Putin was under way.

"I can report to you that we have seen some indications of activity on the border but it's too early to conclude that that activity indicates a withdrawal from the border," White House spokesman Jay Carney said.

Russia will veto a draft U.N. Security Council resolution that calls for bringing Syria before the International Criminal Court, Moscow's ambassador said Wednesday.

Vitaly Churkin dismissed the French initiative, which is to be put to a vote on Thursday, as a "publicity stunt" and said it would undermine efforts to find a political solution to the conflict in Syria.

China signed a long-awaited, 30-year deal Wednesday to buy Russian natural gas worth $400 billion in a financial and diplomatic boost to diplomatically isolated President Vladimir Putin.

Negotiations on the price for the gas had continued into the final hours of a two-day visit by Putin to China, during which the two sides had said they hoped to sign a deal.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday threatened Russia with tougher sanctions if it undermines a crucial presidential election in Ukraine this weekend.

"If Russia undermines these elections on Sunday, we must remain resolute in imposing greater costs," Biden told reporters in Bucharest after meeting with Romanian president Traian Basescu.

Ukraine plans to deploy more than 55,000 police and 20,000 volunteers to ensure that Sunday's presidential ballot goes off smoothly despite the bloody separatist uprising gripping the industrialized east.

The interior ministry's public order director Andriy Chaliy conceded that the "threat of Russia's aggression and the actions of separatists in the east" posed a threat to Sunday's snap vote.

Australia Wednesday announced further sanctions against allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin as it reaffirmed its "clear and unequivocal support for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine".

The financial sanctions and travel bans were expanded to cover an additional 38 unnamed Russians and Ukrainians and 11 entities. A total of 50 people are now affected.

Britain's Prince Charles stoked controversy during a visit to Canada by comparing the recent actions of Russian President Vladimir Putin's to those of Adolf Hitler, the Daily Mail reported Wednesday. 

The British newspaper said several witnesses heard the prince make the comment to Marienne Ferguson, a 78-year-old who fled the Nazis aged 13 and lost family members in the Holocaust.