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Ukraine said fighting in its eastern regions eased “significantly” in the past few days as an agreement for a total cease-fire is expected to come into force Tuesday after repeated breaches to a six-month old truce.

Russian-backed rebels stopped using heavy weapons on Sunday and reduced the intensity of shelling to the lowest level since April 19, Ukrainian officials said yesterday. In the past 24 hours, rebels fired at government troops from rifles, machine guns and grenade launchers in only 19 instances.

The February truce, co-signed by Russia, hasn’t been fully implemented. Ukraine and the pro-Russian separatists its army has been battling for more than a year said Wednesday that they’d seek a “total cease-fire” starting Sept. 1. Ukrainian military officials warned rebels may resume fighting as early as Tuesday and possibly target local schools, military spokesman Andriy Lysenko told reporters on Sunday, citing security service data.

Rebel activity from the last few days showed that in “most cases illegal armed groups randomly fired small arms with a provocative goal,” Anatoliy Stelmakh, another Ukrainian military spokesman, said in a video post on Monday.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and Russian President Vladimir Putin held their first three-way conversation since June 22 on Saturday in an effort to engage on Ukraine as the Minsk-negotiated truce falters.

Rebels said the situation was quiet overnight and no casualties or damage to buildings were reported, they said according to Donetsk News Agency.