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| Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko declares ceasefire | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko has declared a week-long unilateral ceasefire in fighting with pro-Russian militants in the east of the country. | |
| Heavy fighting had been continuing between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russia rebels, with new reports of military hardware entering Ukraine. | |
| The ceasefire had been expected ahead of the implementation of a peace plan. | The ceasefire had been expected ahead of the implementation of a peace plan. |
| However, correspondents say pro-Russian insurgents seem to have no intention of laying down their arms. | |
| Mr Poroshenko said the ceasefire "doens't mean we won't fight back against any aggression towards our troops" but that it was intended to give rebels time to disarm. | |
| "We will do everything to protect the territory of our state," he said. | |
| Ukrainian news agencies quoted a senior rebel commander as saying the insurgents would not lay their arms until government troops had left the region. | |
| The ceasefire comes a day after Mr Poroshenko held his second phone conversation this week with Russia's President Vladimir Putin. | |
| The peace plan proposed by Mr Poroshenko promises to decentralise power and hold early local and parliamentary elections. | |
| It also proposes the creation of a 10km (6 mile) buffer zone on the Ukrainian-Russian border, and a safe corridor for pro-Russian separatists to leave the conflict areas. |