Poroshenko hails postponement of disputed elections

Together with a pull-back of light weapons by both sides and signs the ceasefire is holding, the rebels’ decision appeared to raise cautious optimism that genuine efforts were being made to give the troubled Minsk peace deal a chance.

“People living in the separatist-controlled areas deserve to pick their local officials in elections that meet worldwide standards”.

Going into last Friday’s negotiations with French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Putin in Paris, Poroshenko was looking belligerent.

Reports say Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has welcomed the decision on the vote postponement, saying it paves the way to hold local elections in Lugansk and Donetsk in accordance with the Ukrainian law and under worldwide observation.

The European Union and U.S. have welcomed the halt of rogue elections in Russia-occupied Ukraine, but concessions could harm pro-Western leaders in Kiev.

Ukrainian military spokesman Ruslan Tkachuk said the “synchronised withdrawal from the front line” began at 11am local time (8am GMT) in Luhansk region, involving T-64 and T-72 tanks, as well as anti-tank cannon and mortars.

The two said their elections will be held only after Kyiv assigns them “special status” within a unified Ukraine that has the right to develop closer diplomatic and trade relations with Russian Federation. Trying to sell election rules favorable to Moscow might mean the breakup of Ukraine’s ruling coalition and perhaps snap elections likely to produce a parliament less favorable to Poroshenko.

But Ukrainian foreign minister Pavlo Klimkin told politicians that no separatist polls could be held until Russian Federation withdrew all its troops and military hardware from the war zone.

The 18-month insurrection, the bloodiest war in Europe since the Balkans crises of the 1990s, has killed more than 8,000 people and driven about 1.5 million from their homes.

Western countries responded by imposing sanctions on Russian Federation which, among other things, blocked Russia’s access to Western debt markets.