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 The peace roadmap, approved by envoys in Minsk on Friday, includes
the exchange of prisoners-of-war. A separatist leader said this
process would begin later on Saturday, though the Ukrainian side
said details were still being worked out.
The two sides remain far apart on the future status of the
rebel-held areas in eastern Ukraine and both residents and
combatants said they did not expect the ceasefire to last long, but
there were no reports of serious violations on Saturday.
"The forces of the anti-terrorist operation support the ceasefire
and are closely observing the order of the commander-in-chief," the
spokesman for Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council,
Andriy Lysenko, told a daily briefing in Kiev.
In rebel-held Donetsk, the region's industrial hub with a pre-war
population of about one million, separatist commanders said they did
not believe the five-month war was over.
"The ceasefire is looking good for now but we know they (the
Ukrainian side) are only using it to bring in more forces here and
ammunition and then to hit us with renewed strength," said one rebel
commander known by his nickname Montana.
"Come what may, I would not trust (Ukraine's President Petro)
Poroshenko. And it's not him making the call anyway but the
Americans and that is even worse."
Poroshenko agreed to the ceasefire after Ukraine accused Russia of
sending troops and arms onto its territory in support of the
separatists, who had suffered big losses over the summer. Moscow
denies sending troops or arming the rebels.
"I am sure that Ukraine as a state and I as leader of that state are
doing everything possible to achieve peace in our country,"
Poroshenko said in an interview for the BBC's 'Hard Talk' programme
broadcast late on Friday.
He was speaking after attending a two-day NATO summit in Wales at
which U.S. President Barack Obama and other leaders urged Russia to
pull its forces out of Ukraine. NATO also approved wide-ranging
plans to boost its defences in eastern Europe in response to the
Ukraine crisis.
Obama said he was sceptical that the separatists in eastern Ukraine
would deliver on their ceasefire obligations.
SANCTIONS
The European Union announced new economic sanctions against Russia
late on Friday over its role in Ukraine but said they could be
suspended if Moscow withdraws its troops and observes the conditions
of the ceasefire.
Russia's foreign ministry responded angrily on Saturday to the
measures, pledging unspecified "reaction" if they were implemented.
Moscow responded to a previous round of U.S. and EU sanctions by
banning most Western food imports.
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The prime minister of the rebels' self-proclaimed "Donetsk People's
Republic", Alexander Zakharchenko, said his side would hand over its
POWs to Ukraine on Saturday. "We hope that on Monday Ukraine will
hand over its POWs," he was quoted by Russian news agencies as
saying in Moscow.
Ukraine's Lysenko said his side wanted the exchange to take place
"as fast as possible" but gave no timeframe. He said the rebels were
holding more than 200 Ukrainians captive.
The peace deal, approved in Minsk by envoys from Ukraine, the
separatist leadership, Russia and Europe's OSCE security watchdog,
also envisages the creation of a humanitarian corridor for refugees
and aid.
Before the ceasefire, fighting had raged for days on the outskirts
of Donetsk, especially near the airport, which remains in government
hands, and also around the port of Mariupol on the Sea of Azov,
where government forces have been trying to repel a major rebel
offensive Kiev says was backed by Russian troops.
All was quiet on Saturday in and around Mariupol, whose port is
crucial for Ukraine's steel exports.
"Many of my men had their first good sleep in days," said one
Ukrainian army officer. "I certainly slept well."
In Donetsk, some residents complained of sporadic shelling
overnight.
"I don't know what ceasefire we are talking of if there was shooting
again. This is no ceasefire but a theatre," said Donetsk resident
Ksenia.
"This war will go on for five to nine years. Slavs are killing
Slavs, there can be nothing worse than that."
(Writing by Gareth Jones; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
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