Renewed Fighting in Eastern Ukraine
MOSCOW—
Ukraine and pro-Russian rebels signed an agreement on a cease-fire in eastern Ukraine starting at 6:00 p.m. (1500 GMT) on Friday.
“A preliminary cease-fire protocol has been signed in Minsk. The protocol should go into effect on Friday,” President Petro Poroshenko tweeted Friday, adding in a subsequent tweet that “Peace is an aspiration of the entire world. Peace is an aspiration of all of Ukraine, including the millions of residents of the Donbas.”
The Donetsk People’s Republic of Novorossiya also confirmed the news on their official Twitter feed, saying “In Minsk, representatives of Ukraine, the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic have signed a cease-fire protocol (to begin at) 6:00 p.m. Friday.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin said this week he had broadly agreed on steps toward a resolution of the conflict with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and set out a seven-point proposal end to end the five-month-old conflict.
Russian assets rallied on news that a truce had been reached. The rouble was slightly stronger against the dollar.