East ukraine agre on ceasefire
© RIA Novosti / Maksim BlinovDonbass militia take oath of allegiance to the Donetsk People's Republic
The leader of self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic in eastern Ukraine agreed to a ceasefire in the region until 10 a.m. local time on Friday. He stressed that the self-defense force's ceasefire will come only as a reciprocal move.

"The duration of the ceasefire is the same as announced previously - before 10 a.m. on June 27. During this period monitoring by Russian and OSCE representatives will be organized. We hope that during ceasefire from both sides we will be able to reach an agreement and start consultations on the process of peaceful settlement of the conflict," Aleksandr Boroday, prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic said live on Rossiya 24 TV.

Earlier Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko announced his plan to deescalate the conflict, announcing a unilateral ceasefire from June 20 until June 27, the day Kiev plans to sign the EU Association agreement.

The news on mutual ceasefire has been confirmed by former Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma. "We agreed on bilateral ceasefire lasting until 10 a.m. on June 27," said Kuchma after taking part in talks on the conflict's settlement in Donetsk on June 23.

Prime Minister of the Donetsk People's Repiblic Alexander Boroday
© RIA Novosti/Maksim BlinovPrime Minister of the Donetsk People's Repiblic Alexander Boroday
Ukrainian, Russian and OSCE representatives gathered in Donetsk on June 23 for talks on peaceful settlement of the conflict.

OSCE special envoy to Ukraine Heidi Tagliavini, Russia's ambassador to the country Mikhail Zurabov, representatives of the self-proclaimed people's republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, as well as the former president of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma met to define stages of a peace plan in the country's east.

The involvement of the latter was initiated by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who is said to have had a meeting with Ukrainian representatives to the talks in Kiev before they headed for Donetsk. "Leonid Kuchma's participation indicates the Ukrainian president's close attention to this mission," said Poroshenko, according to his press service statement.

Leonid Kuchma was the president of Ukraine in 1994-2005.

Ahead of the Donetsk meeting, one of Ukraine's representatives, Viktor Medvedchuk, leader of "Ukrainian Choice" political organization, identified the aim of the talks as "implementation of the peace plan to resolve the situation in eastern Ukraine, end the bloodshed, preventing people's deaths, preserving the country's unity."

The Russian President's press-secretary Dmitry Peskov said that Vladimir Putin welcomed the participation of Viktor Medvedchuk in the talks. "He has consistently supported the idea of Ukraine's federalization. He is respected in Kiev, and he is also familiar to the West," Peskov said. He added that "the Russian President has repeatedly stated that a solution to Ukrainian crisis can only be possible through peaceful dialogue and consideration of the interests of eastern regions of the country."