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| Ukraine crisis: Government and pro-Russian rebels sign ceasefire agreement | Ukraine crisis: Government and pro-Russian rebels sign ceasefire agreement |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The Ukrainian Government and pro-Russian rebels have signed a ceasefire agreement hoped to signal the end of the conflict that has killed more than 2,600 people. | |
| Russia's Interfax news agency quoted a source close to the talks as saying an agreement had been signed to stop all hostilities at 6pm local time (3pm GMT) on Friday. | |
| The rebels said they had approved the truce on Twitter and the Ukrainian Government has also confirmed the agreements. | The rebels said they had approved the truce on Twitter and the Ukrainian Government has also confirmed the agreements. |
| Petro Poroshenko, Ukraine's President, called for international controls to maintain the peace in eastern Ukraine. | |
| "The entire world strives for peace, the entire Ukraine strives for peace, including millions of Donbass residents," he added. | |
| "The highest value is human life. We must do everything possible and impossible to terminate bloodshed and put an end to people's suffering." | |
| A rebel leader from Luhansk, Igor Plotnitsky, said the peace deal "doesn't mean [separatists'] course for secession is over", hinting at deep divisions that could derail efforts for a permanent truce. | |
| But Alexander Zakharchenko, the rebel leader from the Donetsk region, said: “The ceasefire will allow us to save not only civilians lives, but also the lives of the people who took up arms in order to defend their land and ideals." | |
| Talks continued in Minsk, Belarus, including representatives from Ukraine, the separatists, Russia and the OSCE security watchdog. | |
| Vladimir Putin and Petro Poroshenko shake hands in Minsk Earlier, Kiev's representative Leonid Kuchma, the former Ukrainian President, said: "We have come for peace, the main thing is to get an armistice." | |
| Mr Poroshenko had said on Thursday that he would order a ceasefire if negotiations began sucessfully between Ukrainian and pro-Russian envoys in Minsk, but a Ukrainian officer later told Reuters that operations were continuing as scheduled. | Mr Poroshenko had said on Thursday that he would order a ceasefire if negotiations began sucessfully between Ukrainian and pro-Russian envoys in Minsk, but a Ukrainian officer later told Reuters that operations were continuing as scheduled. |
| Another soldier who gave his name as Mykola said the President would be “betraying the country” if he backed a truce now. | |
| “If he goes for a peace plan, then all these dead and wounded and exiled and all the homes burned and jobs lost and money lost, it was all for nothing,” he added. | “If he goes for a peace plan, then all these dead and wounded and exiled and all the homes burned and jobs lost and money lost, it was all for nothing,” he added. |
| There was scepticism in Donetsk, where many civilians have died in weeks of bombardments and fierce fighting. | There was scepticism in Donetsk, where many civilians have died in weeks of bombardments and fierce fighting. |
| A resident, 22-year-old Denis Tikhinov, said even if a ceasefire is ordered for the Ukrainian army, the "Kolomoisky battalions" funded by a wealthy businessman and regional governor to fight the pro-Russian separatists would continue. | A resident, 22-year-old Denis Tikhinov, said even if a ceasefire is ordered for the Ukrainian army, the "Kolomoisky battalions" funded by a wealthy businessman and regional governor to fight the pro-Russian separatists would continue. |
| News of the potential truce came as fighting raged east of the strategic port of Mariupol, where Ukrainian forces are trying to repel separatists attempting to take the city of 500,000. | News of the potential truce came as fighting raged east of the strategic port of Mariupol, where Ukrainian forces are trying to repel separatists attempting to take the city of 500,000. |
| A spokesman for the rebels' self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic claimed they had entered Mariupol on Friday but Government spokespeople insisted they had been kept out. | A spokesman for the rebels' self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic claimed they had entered Mariupol on Friday but Government spokespeople insisted they had been kept out. |
| Artillery fire was also heard in Donetsk, where people were seen queuing on Friday morning to get water, sign up for humanitarian aid and to withdraw money from the cash machine of one of the few banks still working. | Artillery fire was also heard in Donetsk, where people were seen queuing on Friday morning to get water, sign up for humanitarian aid and to withdraw money from the cash machine of one of the few banks still working. |
| A mosque, shops and schools were among buildings damaged by renewed shelling. | A mosque, shops and schools were among buildings damaged by renewed shelling. |
| Russia has continued to deny sending troops and weapons into Ukraine, despite evidence to the contrary presented by Nato, and a spokesperson for the Ukrainian military claimed around 2,000 Russian servicemen had died in the conflict so far. | Russia has continued to deny sending troops and weapons into Ukraine, despite evidence to the contrary presented by Nato, and a spokesperson for the Ukrainian military claimed around 2,000 Russian servicemen had died in the conflict so far. |
| Vladimir Putin had put forward his own seven-point peace plan, including stopping “active offensive operations” by the Ukrainian military and rebels, international ceasefire monitoring, unconditional prisoner exchanges and humanitarian aid corridors. | Vladimir Putin had put forward his own seven-point peace plan, including stopping “active offensive operations” by the Ukrainian military and rebels, international ceasefire monitoring, unconditional prisoner exchanges and humanitarian aid corridors. |
| The Minsk peace talks coincided with Nato's summit in Wales, where leaders agreed on a 4,000-strong "spearhead" military force, able to deploy in a matter of days. | |
| The European Union was set to agree on new economic sanctions against Russia on Friday but could suspend them if Moscow withdraws its troops from Ukraine and observes the new ceasefire. | |
| Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor said, said the peace would have to be verified along with the withdrawal of Russian troops and an effective buffer zone. | |
| Additional reporting by Reuters | Additional reporting by Reuters |