Russia, Ukraine confirm ceasefire in effect

Russian and Ukrainian presidents have confirmed that the ceasefire between Kiev and pro-Russian militias is being respected in eastern Ukraine, Kiev says.

The office of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said in a statement on Saturday that he and his Russian counterpart had noted in a telephone call that the ceasefire between prop-Russians and Kiev was largely in effect.

"The two heads of state noted that the ceasefire regime was generally being observed," the Ukrainian president's office said, after the militants and government forces accused each other of truce violations.

It added that the two presidents discussed ways of making the truce be observed permanently in eastern Ukraine.

Earlier, pro-Russians and the Ukrainian government forces accused each other of breaking the ceasefire.

A leading member of the parliament established by the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic said that Ukrainian units had launched several missiles toward the pro-Russian militants’ positions in the east after the ceasefire took effect at 6:00 pm (1500 GMT) on Friday.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council spokesman, Andriy Lysenko, accused pro-Russian militants of violating the ceasefire.

He said Ukrainian forces have come under attack on 28 occasions, 10 of them after the ceasefire.

The Ukrainian government and pro-Russia forces signed a 12-point pact on Friday in the Belarus capital, Minsk.

Ukraine’s mainly Russian-speaking regions in the east have been the scene of deadly clashes between pro-Russia protesters and the Ukrainian army since the government in Kiev launched military operations in mid-April in a bid to crush the protests.

Violence intensified in May after the two flashpoint regions of Donetsk and Lugansk held local referendums, in which their residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of independence from Ukraine.