MINSK, Belarus (AP) — Ukraine’s president is declaring a cease-fire to end nearly five months of fighting in the eastern part of his country. It comes after his representatives reached a deal with the Russian-backed rebels at peace talks in Belarus.
In a statement, President Petro Poroshenko says he expects the agreement — calling for a cease-fire and the release of prisoners — to be “precisely observed.”
An official with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which took part in the talks, says the cease-fire deal consists of 12 points, but they haven’t yet been publicly spelled out.
Even as the cease-fire takes effect, it’s clear that deep divisions among the rebels could threaten to derail the peace efforts. An insurgent leader around the city of Luhansk says, “This doesn’t mean that our course for secession is over.”
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APPHOTO MOSB116: From right, Igor Plotnitsky, the leader of pro-Russian rebels in the Luhansk region, Russian Ambassador to Ukraine Mikhail Zurabov, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Ambassador Heidi Tagliavini, Alexander Zakharchenko, the leader of pro-Russian rebels in Donetsk, and former Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma meet with the media after talks on cease-fire in Ukraine in Minsk, Belarus, Friday, Sept. 5, 2014. Ukraine and the Russian-backed rebels have signed a cease-fire deal that starts in less than two hours, a European official at the talks said Friday. (AP Photo) (5 Sep 2014)
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