Ukraine tests new ceasefire in the east

SINGAPORE: Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said Tuesday a ceasefire along the front line in the east of his country appeared to be holding after Kiev declared a “day of silence” in the war with pro-Russian separatists.

“Today (Tuesday), one and a half hour ago, we declared a new ceasefire,” Poroshenko said at a public lecture in Singapore. “We don’t have one shot, we don’t have any killed soldiers,” he added.

He said his country was ready to “stop the bleeding” but not at the expense of “giving up” its freedom, democracy, sovereignty and independence.

He added that the conflict was not a war for Ukraine alone but a “war for freedom, for democracy, for Europe”.

The government in Kiev has dubbed the ceasefire that went into effect on Tuesday as “a day of silence”.

It appeared to be largely holding despite the delay of planned peace talks between Ukraine and pro-Russian rebels, due to be held in the Belarussian capital Minsk. Talks are expected to get underway on Friday. KIEV: Energy-starved Ukraine said on Tuesday it had received the first Russian natural gas shipments since a politically charged price dispute saw Moscow cut off supplies to its Westward-leaning neighbour in June.

The announcement means that the war-torn nation of 45 million people should have enough power to heat homes through the winter.

“Imports from Russia began two days earlier than planned,” Ukraine’s gas transport company Ukrtransgaz said. AFP

“On the initiative of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, a ceasefire regime has been implemented on all positions of (government) forces,” said a statement on the Ukrainian military’s Facebook account on Tuesday.