Members of the military special forces sit on an armoured vehicle near Kramatorsk.(Reuters)
Senior rebel leaders said on Thursday they would order a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine on Friday if agreement is reached with Kiev at talks in Minsk, two rebel commanders said on a separatist website.
Alexander Zakharchenko, the head of the self-declared People's Republic of Donetsk, and Igor Plotnitsky, leader of the self-proclaimed People's Republic of Luhansk, said in a statement the rebels "are ready ... at 15:00 (local time) to order a ceasefire, if an agreement is reached and Ukrainian representatives sign a plan for the political settlement of the conflict."
They also said the accord must "spell out in detail how to guarantee compliance with this (ceasefire) regime," it said.
© Thomson Reuters 2014