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| Pro-Russian Rebels in Ukraine Agree to Cease-Fire | Pro-Russian Rebels in Ukraine Agree to Cease-Fire |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| DONETSK, Ukraine — Pro-Russian separatists declared a cease-fire Monday in a surprise move that they said they hoped would lead to a settlement of the conflict in eastern Ukraine. | |
| The announcement Monday came as rebel leaders met with representatives of the Ukrainian government in Kiev, including the former president Leonid Kuchma, the Russian ambassador to Ukraine, and a representative of the acting chairman of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. | |
| “In answer to the cease-fire by Kiev, we commit to a cease-fire from our side,” said Alexander Borodai, the prime minister of the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic. | |
| Mr. Borodai said the cease-fire would last until Friday, the same as the cease-fire announced last week by the new Ukraine president, Petro O. Poroshenko. | |
| “We also hope that in the time of this bilateral cease-fire,” Mr. Borodai continued, “we can agree to begin consultations about the introduction of negotiations about a peaceful settlement of this conflict.” | |
| Mr. Poroshenko declared a unilateral cease-fire last Friday by government troops clashing with rebels in the country’s embattled east and unveiled a peace plan to bring an end to the conflict. | |
| The plan proposed amnesty for rebel fighters who had not committed serious crimes and called for decentralization, which would allow for greater self-rule in the east. | |
| However, the plan did not call for negotiations between the government and the separatist leaders of the self-declared republics. President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia gave cautious support to the peace plan, but said it must lead to talks between both sides. | |
| With tentative support from Russia and Ukraine’s Western allies, including the United States, the cease-fire provides a brief opportunity for the two sides to forge a more lasting agreement for the first time since masked gunmen seized cities throughout eastern Ukraine more than two months ago. | |
| Shortly after the cease-fire was reported, the Kremlin said that Mr. Putin and President Obama had spoken by telephone. | |
| There is little trust between the patchwork of militias and rebellious political organizations and the government in Kiev. Rebel leaders, including Mr. Borodai, had previously accused Kiev of violating its own cease-fire, and intermittent fighting between Ukrainian and rebel troops has continued since last Friday. | |
| Those present at Monday’s meeting called it a “consultation,” and underlined that the talks were not negotiations. | |
| Mr. Poroshenko had previously said he would not negotiate with armed “terrorists,” and just last week held a meeting in Kiev with what his administration called the “legitimate” leaders of eastern Ukraine to discuss the peace plan before he publicly declared the cease-fire. | |
| “I’m happy that these talks took place and that nobody undertook the resolution of the enormous complex of problems before us,” said Mr. Kuchma, who served as president of the country from 1994 to 2005. | |
| If the cease-fire holds, Mr. Kuchma said, then “God willing, a peace process will begin on its own.” |