Six Russian warships are heading to the Black Sea from the Mediterranean for naval drills, Russia’s defence ministry said on Tuesday.
According to the Interfax news agency, the drills are part of a pre-planned movement of military resources.
Russia announced last month its navy would stage a sweeping set of exercises involving all its fleets in January and February, from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean.
It comes as Joe Biden and Olaf Scholz have warned that the “high price” Russia will pay if it invades Ukraine would include the end of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.
On his first trip to the White House as German Chancellor, Mr Scholz said Berlin and Washington “will be united” in their response to an incursion by Moscow, after the US president warned they would bring the £8.3bn project “to an end” if Russian troops cross the Ukrainian border.