A new peace roadmap aimed at ending the 10-month war between Ukraine and pro-Moscow rebels was agreed in Belarus Thursday, but Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that "big hurdles" remained. Russian President Vladimir Putin emerged from the summit in the Belarussian capital Minsk, saying he, Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko had agreed on the "main" points.
Putin said a cease-fire would take effect at midnight Kiev time on Sunday (2200 GMT on Saturday) and that heavy weapons would be withdrawn from frontlines of the conflict, which has already killed at least 5,300 people and driven a million people from their homes.
Hollande, described the deal as "a comprehensive political solution", while Merkel spoke only of a "glimmer of hope". "I have no illusions. We have no illusions," she said, adding that "much work" remained. Hollande, Merkel and Poroshenko flew from Minsk to Brussels for a European Union summit, where the French leader said that it was essential to keep up pressure to ensure the accord's success.
"The next few hours will be decisive as it could go either way," Hollande said at an EU summit in Brussels fresh from the peace talks in Minsk, adding: "We will have to remain vigilant, to maintain the pressure and to press ahead." British Premier David Cameron said Putin should not expect any change to current sanctions against Moscow by the 28-nation EU unless he really changed his behaviour. "If this is a genuine ceasefire then that would be welcome but what matters most of all is actions," he added.
The roadmap - meant to ease a crisis that has plunged the West and Russia into their bitterest dispute since the Cold War - was signed by the so-called "contact group". This comprises the pro-Russian separatist leaders, Russian and Ukrainian envoys, and European mediators from the OSCE.
A previous truce signed in Minsk last September quickly collapsed. The latest talks were seen as a last opportunity for European leaders to save nearly bankrupt Ukraine from ever-widening defeats at the hands of rebels said by Kiev and the West to be armed and trained by Russia. Even as the deal was agreed, Kiev and rebel sources said fighting over the last 24 hours had killed 14 civilians and two Ukrainian soldiers.
The Ukrainian government also accused Russia of deploying another 50 tanks across the border overnight, with fighting expected to continue around disputed railway hub Debaltseve, which rebels claim to have surrounded. Putin said that up to 8,000 Ukraine troops were surrounded at Debalseve and rebels expected them to lay down their arms. The Ukrainian military however denied the troops were blocked but said fighting was continuing ahead of the ceaAFP In rebel-held Donetsk, weary residents expressed little optimism. "I don't believe in it at all," said Lyubov, 62, who would not give her last name. "Every time they sign an agreement, they say one thing and do another. I no longer trust anyone."
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