RIGHT SPEAK: Ukraine Ceasefire Agreed to at Minsk Talks

The leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany on Thursday announced a cease-fire in eastern Ukraine following marathon talks in the Belarusian capital of Minsk.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the agreement envisages the cease-fire starting Sunday, a special status for rebel regions, provisions on border controls and humanitarian issues.

Russian-backed separatists fire a mortar at Ukrainian
government troops on Feb. 11 outside Sanzharivka village
near Debaltseve. (Photo: Maximilian Clarke)

But Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said the talks did not include any agreement on autonomy or federalization for eastern Ukraine, a longtime demand of Russia.

The deal requires the Ukrainian parliament to give wide powers to the eastern regions as a condition for restoring Ukraine's full control over the border — a provision certain to trigger heated political debate in Ukraine.

A woman passes destroyed vehicles after a bus station was
hit during fighting between Russian-backed separatists and
the Ukrainian government forces in Donetsk.
(Photo: Petr David Josek, AP)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande, Poroshenko and Putin began talks on Wednesday in an effort to hash out a peace agreement between Kiev and the separatists amid a spike in fighting.

"We now have a glimmer of hope," Merkel said. "But the concrete steps of course have to be taken, and we will still face major obstacles. But on balance I can say that we have achieved gives significantly more hope than if we had achieved nothing."

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The agreement is a complex compromise that allows both Russia and Ukraine to claim victory, but is full of potential pitfalls that may derail its implementation.

Uncertainty remained even regarding the declared cease-fire, as Putin admitted that he and Poroshenko disagreed on assessing the situation in the government-held town of Debaltseve, a key flashpoint.

The main points of the agreement

"It was not the best night in my life. But the morning, I think, is good, because we have managed to agree on the main things despite all the difficulties of the negotiations," Putin told reporters following 16 hours of talks.