Minsk

Russia said on Sept. 9 it hoped that talks on the status of eastern Ukraine would start shortly between Kiev and pro-Moscow rebels.

Leaders of self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics have urged the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to ensure control over the ceasefire observance in southeast Ukraine.

Kiev officials and representatives of pro-Russian rebels have signed a ceasefire agreement at their meeting in Minsk, Friday.

BELGRADE - Ivica Dacic, Serbia's first deputy prime minister and foreign minister, has welcomed an agreement on ceasefire in Ukraine and voiced the hope that this is the beginning of a peace process in which all open issues will be resolved through dialogue.

Kiev officials and representatives of pro-Russian rebels have signed a ceasefire agreement at their meeting in Minsk.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said Sept. 5 his envoy had signed a "preliminary" truce deal with pro-Russian rebels aimed at halting five months of fighting that has claimed 2,600 lives.

Warring sides in Ukraine agree on ceasefire

MINSK -- Representatives of Ukraine and the self-proclaimed People's Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk have signed a protocol on a ceasefire, reports RT.

The truce should begin at 18:00 local time.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has confirmed that agreement was reached on a ceasefire, the BBC reports.

Seeking to counter Russian aggression, NATO leaders approved plans Friday to post several thousand troops in Eastern Europe who could quickly mobilize if an alliance country in the region were to come under attack.
     
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the new unit would send a clear message to potential aggressors, namely Russia.
     

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said a ceasefire plan aimed at ending a near five-month conflict in the east of the country would be signed on Friday.
      
"Tomorrow in Minsk a document will be signed providing for the gradual introduction of the Ukrainian peace plan," he said on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Wales on Thursday.
      

Pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine's east have said they are ready to lay down arms if Kiev officials sign a plan outlining the steps to peace.

Russia "could take Kiev in two weeks"

MOSCOW -- Russian President Vladimir Putin has told European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso that Russia could conquer Kiev in two weeks.