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Ukrainian servicemen ride in a tank close to the airport in the eastern city of Donetsk, a facility which has been the site of intense fighting for several weeks.
Ukrainian servicemen ride in a tank close to the airport in the eastern city of Donetsk, a facility which has been the site of intense fighting for several weeks.

Live Blog: Ukraine In Crisis (Archive)

We have moved the Ukraine Crisis Live Blog. Sorry for any inconvenience. Please find it HERE.

15:09 5.9.2014

This just in from our News Desk:

The Interfax news agency cites a source close to talks in Minsk as saying representatives of Ukraine and pro-Russian rebels have signed an agreement for a cease-fire.

"A protocol has been signed on a cease-fire from 1800 (Kyiv time) on Friday," Interfax quoted the source, whom it did not identify, as saying.

"The protocol has 14 points that include all aspects of monitoring, prisoner exchange and other issues."

AFP news agency cited Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk as saying the cease-fire deal must win EU and U.S. support to work.

The talks follow a telephone conversation between Ukrainian President Poroshenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin on September 3 in which they discussed ways to end the conflict that has killed more than 2,600 people in eastern Ukraine since April.

15:39 5.9.2014

More from our news desk on signing the cease-fire agreement:

Representatives of Ukraine and pro-Russian rebels have signed an agreement for a cease-fire to start at 1700 Prague time on September 5, Russian and Western news agencies reported.

"A protocol has been signed on a cease-fire from 1800 (Kyiv time) on Friday," the Interfax news agency quoted a source close to talks in Minsk, whom it did not identify, as saying.

"The protocol has 14 points that include all aspects of monitoring, prisoner exchange and other issues."

Reuters reported that Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) had confirmed a cease-fire agreement was signed.

The talks follow a telephone conversation between Poroshenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin on September 3 in which they discussed ways to end the conflict that has killed more than 2,600 people in eastern Ukraine since April.

16:27 5.9.2014

Our latest news wrap on the cease-fire.

Ukrainian Adversaries Sign Cease-Fire Deal

16:43 5.9.2014

16:57 5.9.2014

Not Ukraine related but still...

17:38 5.9.2014

So the truce has now officially come into force:

A cease-fire has come into force in eastern Ukraine after almost five months of fighting.

Earlier on September 5 in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, Ukrainian officials and pro-Russian separatists agreed to stop firing at 1800 local time (eds. 1700 Prague time).

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said he would do "everything possible and impossible" to end the bloodshed.

A top separatist leader said the truce doesn’t changed the rebels’ policy of advocating separation from Ukraine.

The Minsk talks follow a telephone conversation between Poroshenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin on September 3 in which they discussed ways to end the conflict that has killed more than 2,600 people in eastern Ukraine since April.

Fierce fighting was reported at the Donetsk international airport and outside the southeastern port city of Mariupol ahead of the cease-fire agreement.

17:50 5.9.2014

More on this developing story from Estonia:

Russian Ambassador to Estonia Yury Merzlakov has been summoned to the Estonian Foreign Ministry for an explanation after Estonia said one of its security police officers had been abducted at gunpoint in Estonia and taken to Russia.

Estonia's Internal Security Service said the incident occurred at about 9 a.m. near the Luhamaa border post, and started with the jamming of communications and the setting off of a smoke grenade.

Arnold Sinsalu, Estonian Internal Security Agency's general director, said there were signs of a violent struggle but no indication of a firefight.

A criminal case has been opened on charges of abduction and illegal border crossing.

The incident comes two days after U.S. President Barack Obama spoke in Tallinn and pledged that NATO allies would always come to the defense of Estonia under Article 5 of the alliance's charter.

In April, our correspondent went to Estonia and wrote about the country's ethnic Russian population.

17:51 5.9.2014

A rare anti-war protest in Russia, reported by our Russian Service:

BRYANSK, Russia -- Soviet-Afghan war veterans in Russia's western city of Bryansk held a picket protesting Russian involvement in the military conflict in Ukraine.

About a dozen members of the local Union of Afghan War veterans held placards saying "No to War in Ukraine!" and "No To A Second Afghanistan!"

A leader of the union, Vladimir Barabanov, who served in Afghanistan from 1986 to 1988, told RFE/RL that the second public protest against the war in Ukraine will be held in Bryansk on September 13 in the form of a public gathering for people to express their views.

Both public actions have been officially approved by local authorities.

Barabanov said Russia's Union of Afghan War Veterans does not support his regional union's viewpoint.

17:52 5.9.2014

Obama is speaking soon at the NATO conference:

18:34 5.9.2014

BREAKING: U.S. President Barack Obama says he is "confident" about the creation of a broad international coalition to counter Islamic State militants and said they will ultimately be "defeated."

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