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Warring sides in Ukraine agree on ceasefire

MINSK -- Representatives of Ukraine and the self-proclaimed People's Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk have signed a protocol on a ceasefire, reports RT.

The truce should begin at 18:00 local time.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has confirmed that agreement was reached on a ceasefire, the BBC reports.

Pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine's east have said they are ready to lay down arms if Kiev officials sign a plan outlining the steps to peace.

Pro-Russian rebels in the self-proclaimed "Donetsk People's Republic" have downplayed the announcement of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko of a Donbass ceasefire.

Poroshenko: Situation in conflict zone changed radically

KIEV -- Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has accused Russia of launching a "direct and open aggression against Ukraine."

He asserted that this changed the balance of power in the conflict between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian activists.

Ukrainian troops on Sept. 1 were battling a Russian tank contingent in the eastern city of Lugansk, Kiev said, accusing Moscow's army units of moving into large cities in the region.

Russia accused of "direct involvement" in conflict

KIEV -- U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt claims that Russia is "directly involved" in the fighting between pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainian government forces.

A large number of Russian soldiers are directly involved in the fighting in the Ukrainian territory, he posted on Twitter.

Washington and Kyiv said Thursday that Russian troops were actively involved in the fighting tearing apart eastern Ukraine, raising fears of a direct military confrontation on Europe's eastern flank.
      

The United States accused Russia Aug. 28 of being directly involved in the Ukraine conflict after pro-Kremlin rebels seized swathes of territory from government forces in a new southeastern front.
      
"An increasing number of Russian troops are intervening directly in fighting on Ukrainian territory," the US ambassador to Kyiv Geoffrey Pyatt wrote on Twitter.
      

Russian soldiers crossed border "by mistake"

MOSCOW -- Russian soldiers captured in Ukraine crossed the border by mistake, said a source in the Russian Ministry of Defense, Reuters and RIA Novosti are reporting.

Kyiv on Aug. 25 said its forces were clashing with an armoured column that crossed the border from Russia as Moscow ramped up tensions ahead of crunch talks by pledging to send in a new aid convoy.