Ceasefire With East Ukraine in Effect : Special Operations Press Center

The Ukrainian military has stopped hostilities in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as the combatants agreed to a ceasefire.

MOSCOW, December 9 (Sputnik) — The Ukrainian military has ceased hostilities in the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, the head of the special operations press center in Kiev Oleksiy Dmitrashkovkiy told RIA Novosti Tuesday.

“We have ceased military actions from this time,” Dmitrashkovkiy said.

Last week, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko announced the introduction of a "silence regime" in the southeast of the country starting December 9. Poroshenko also said that the next meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine may be held in Minsk the same day, although the self-proclaimed Donetsk authorities insist that it will take place on December 12.

The Contact Group on the Ukrainian crisis comprises representatives from Kiev, the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's republics, Russia and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). At the group’s September 5 meeting, the conflicting sides reached a ceasefire agreement. Both sides, though, have since accused each other of violating the truce.