Shelling halts in Ukraine’s Donetsk after ceasefire begins

Shelling suddenly stopped at midnight in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk after a ceasefire agreed between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian rebels came into force Sunday, the first step in a fragile peace plan aimed at ending 10 months of conflict in east Ukraine. Under the terms of the deal, inked Thursday after marathon talks in Minsk between the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France, the two warring sides have two days from the start of the truce to start pulling back heavy weapons from the frontline. The last-ditch peace plan is seen as the best hope of ending the violence that has claimed at least 5,480 lives since April but scepticism remains high after the collapse of a similar previous deal.

If we fail now in our efforts, all parties involved in the region… will pay a high price.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier

Ferocious fighting raged in the hours before the ceasefire was set to come into effect, with Ukraine and the United States accusing Russia of piling in weapons to fuel a rebel onslaught to grab territory. Meanwhile, President Barack Obama spoke with the leaders of Ukraine and Germany as fighting continued between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine hours before the scheduled cease-fire.The White House says Obama and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko stressed the need for all sides to halt the violence beginning at midnight in the region as scheduled.

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