DONETSK, Ukraine
Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine agreed Monday to the ceasefire declared by Ukraine's president in a bid to end months of fighting.
Alexander Borodai, the prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, announced the decision following President Petro Poroshenko’s declaration of a week-long unilateral ceasefire Saturday.
The rebels' agreement came following a meeting in Donetsk between Borodai; Ukraine's former president Leonid Kuchma; Russian ambassador Mikhail Zurabov; Heidi Tagliavini, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's representative to Ukraine; and the separatist leaders of the Luhansk People's Republic.
The separatists said they would abide by the ceasefire until Friday.
President Poroshenko declared a ceasefire at the weekend to give diplomats a chance to end clashes between the Kiev-controlled Ukrainian army and pro-Russian separatists in Donetsk and Luhansk regions to the east.
The separatists declared their intention to break away after the government in Kiev was overthrown by pro-West demonstrators. They hope to repeat the scenario in Crimea, which was annexed by Moscow after a controversial referendum in March.
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