Leaders agree to Ukraine cease-fire

Jane Onyanga-Omara | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Putin: Leaders agree deal for Ukraine Cease-Fire Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday emerged from marathon Ukraine peace talks by announcing a new cease-fire deal, but questions remained whether Ukraine and the pro-Russian rebels have agreed on its terms. (Feb. 12)

The leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany on Thursday announced a cease-fire in eastern Ukraine following marathon talks in the Belarusian capital of Minsk.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the agreement envisages the cease-fire starting Sunday, a special status for rebel regions, provisions on border controls and humanitarian issues.

But Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said the talks did not include any agreement on autonomy or federalization for eastern Ukraine, a longtime demand of Russia.

The deal requires the Ukrainian parliament to give wide powers to the eastern regions as a condition for restoring Ukraine's full control over the border — a provision certain to trigger heated political debate in Ukraine.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande, Poroshenko and Putin began talks on Wednesday in an effort to hash out a peace agreement between Kiev and the separatists amid a spike in fighting.

"We now have a glimmer of hope," Merkel said. "But the concrete steps of course have to be taken, and we will still face major obstacles. But on balance I can say that we have achieved gives significantly more hope than if we had achieved nothing."

The agreement is a complex compromise that allows both Russia and Ukraine to claim victory, but is full of potential pitfalls that may derail its implementation.

Uncertainty remained even regarding the declared cease-fire, as Putin admitted that he and Poroshenko disagreed on assessing the situation in the government-held town of Debaltseve, a key flashpoint.

"It was not the best night in my life. But the morning, I think, is good, because we have managed to agree on the main things despite all the difficulties of the negotiations," Putin told reporters following 16 hours of talks.

Poroshenko stressed that the agreement contains "a clear commitment to withdraw all foreign troops, all mercenaries from the territory of Ukraine."

Merkel said Putin exerted pressure on the separatists to get them to agree to the cease-fire.

Igor Plotnitskiy, the separatist leader in the Luhansk region, welcomed the agreement. "We hope that thanks to our efforts today Ukraine will change and stop firing at civilians, hospitals and socially important facilities," he said, according to the BBC.

Donetsk rebel leader Alexander Zakharchenko said he will lay the blame on Kiev if the cease-fire collapses and that there "will be no meetings and no new agreements."

The deal envisages a 31- to 87-mile wide buffer zone to be created by pulling back the heavy artillery and rocket systems from the front line depending on their caliber. The withdrawal should begin no later than a second day after the cease-fire becomes effective and be completed within two weeks.

In a win for Ukraine, the rebel regions, which held their own elections last fall that Ukraine and the West declared a sham, are obliged to hold a new local vote under Ukrainian law.

But in a key concession to Russia, the deal says the restoration of Ukrainian control over the border with Russia in rebel-controlled areas could be completed only by the end of 2015 on condition that Ukraine conducts a constitutional reform granting wide powers to the eastern regions, including the right to form their own police force and trade freely with Russia.

Hollande said he and Merkel would ask their European Union partners to support the deal at a summit later Thursday, the BBC reported.

Earlier Thursday, the International Monetary Fund announced a new bailout deal for Ukraine of $17.5 billion that could bring the estimated total financing package to Ukraine from various sources to about $40 billion over a four-year period.

Announcing the agreement, which is subject to approval, Nikolay Gueorguiev, IMF mission chief for Ukraine, said economic activity had contracted by around 7% to 7.5% in GDP last year, weighed down by the conflict.

"The economic reform program focuses on immediate macroeconomic stabilization as well as broad and deep structural reforms to provide the basis for strong and sustainable economic growth over the medium term," he said.

More than 5,400 people have lost their lives in the conflict that started nearly a year ago, and close to a million people have been displaced from their homes. Tens of thousands of people have fled to neighboring countries.

As the talks were underway, both rebels and government troops reported fighting across eastern Ukraine. A previous peace deal agreed to in Minsk in September failed to quell the violence.

Contributing: Kim Hjelmgaard, Associated Press