A truce between the Ukraine government and pro-Russian rebels came into effect Friday evening after President Petro Poroshenko ordered government forces to stop military action against the independence-seeking insurgents in the country's eastern region.
The agreement was signed Friday in Belarus capital Minsk hours after reports of fighting in eastern Ukraine that led to the loss of five more lives.
"I have ordered the chief of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to cease fire starting from 6 p.m. local time Friday," Poroshenko said in a statement published on the presidential website.
He also instructed Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin to coordinate with the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to ensure international control over the compliance of the truce, Xinhua reported.
"Human life is (of) the highest value. That's why we must do our best to stop the bloodshed and put an end to sufferings of the people," he said in the statement.
Poroshenko's order came after representatives of Ukraine's government and insurgent leadership signed the ceasefire protocol in Minsk.
Former Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma, Russian Ambassador to Ukraine Mikhail Zurabov, OSCE representative in Ukraine Heidi Tagliavini and representatives from the self-proclaimed republics of Lugansk and Donetsk participated in the Minsk talks.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a news agency that the positive yet fragile trend in seeking a peaceful settlement of the Ukraine crisis must be preserved.
"It is impossible and scary to do any forecasts. But our position remains unchanged - there is no other way but peace talks," she said.
Earlier Friday, hours before the talks, fighting was reported between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
At least five civilians were killed and nine others wounded in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk which has been under artillery fire for weeks, Efe news agency reported citing sources.
Many buildings and a children's hospital were severely damaged during the latest attack, the city's municipal authorities said.
Pro-Russian militants had also kept up their attacks against Ukrainian troops in Donetsk who have been deployed at the city's international airport since May.
The OSCE mission in Ukraine said Friday that battles took place 20 km from Mariupol, near the towns of Shirokino and Bezymianny, where many homes were destroyed by artillery fire.
Friday's ceasefire protocol is the first such truce in the months-old conflict in which hundreds of civilians have died in the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Lugansk and triggered tensions between Russia and the West.
