Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday that Russia's joint military drills with Belarus will end on February 20 as initially announced, per Reuters. "Talks will continue on all aspects of our security proposals," Lavrov added.

Similarly, the RIA news agency reported that Russia was not planning to leave troops in Belarus for an extended period.

Market reaction

Investors remain cautious following these comments. The US Dollar Index was last seen posting small daily gains at 95.90 and US stocks futures indexes were down between 0.5% and 0.65%.