Ukraine declares ceasefire with rebels

The United States has accused Russia of moving soldiers and armour towards Ukraine’s border, as the embattled country’s president announced a ceasefire with pro-Moscow rebels.

Kiev officials said recent fighting in the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which border Russia, had killed seven servicemen and some 300 militants.

The figures could not be confirmed, and the insurgents often accuse the government of exaggerating their losses. Ukraine's new president, confectionery billionaire Petro Poroshenko, announced a ceasefire in the east to allow rebels to surrender, alleged mercenaries to return to Russia, and for a semblance of order and government control to be restored in the important industrial area.

Dressed in military fatigues on a visit to Donetsk region, Mr Poroshenko said military operations against the rebels would halt for a week, starting last night. Troops would only open fire if attacked by the rebels, he told local residents.

The militants have derided the truce offer as a trick, however. Earlier in the week, Mr Poroshenko said a ceasefire was only possible once Ukraine’s forces had taken full control of its long and porous border with Russia; security officials differed yesterday on whether that control had been established.

Ukraine and its western allies say Moscow has allowed fighters and weapons to cross into Ukraine with tacit Kremlin approval, and the US and EU has imposed sanctions on Russian officials for the country’s annexation of Crimea and alleged destabilisation of Donetsk and Luhansk.

Russia withdrew a large concentration of troops and armour from near Ukraine’s border in recent weeks, but Nato and Washington now claim that Moscow is again increasing its military presence near the frontier.

A senior US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told news agencies yesterday that the kind of equipment being gathered near Ukraine was still used by Kiev’s military but not by Russia’s – allowing Moscow to “mask (its) hand” by claiming the rebels had seized the hardware locally.

The Kremlin denies helping the militants but demands an end to the government’s “anti-terrorist” operation in the east, where it accuses government forces of indiscriminately firing on civilian areas – a claim rejected by Kiev.

Senior Russian officials insisted there was no threatening troop build-up near Ukraine, but rather efforts on Moscow’s part to boost its border security.

The unnamed US official said talks with the EU had “intensified” this week over the possible imposition of further sanctions against Moscow.