KIEV: Ukraine’s Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk on Wednesday rejected a ceasefire plan unveiled by Russian President Vladimir Putin as an attempt to deceive the West about Moscow’s real intentions.

“This latest plan is another attempt to pull the wool over the eyes of the international community ahead of the Nato summit and an attempt to avert the EU’s inevitable decision to unleash a new wave of sanctions against Russia,” he said in a statement.

“The best plan for ending Russia’s war against Ukraine has only one single element — for Russia to withdraw its troops, its mercenaries and its terrorists from Ukrainian territory.”

His comments come despite Ukrainian Pre­sident Petro Poroshenko saying he and Mr Putin had agreed on the peace plan aimed at ending the near five-month conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Terms plan an attempt to deceive the West

The proposal, detailed by President Putin on the eve of opening of the Nato summit in Wales on Thursday, is due to be discussed on Friday by the so-called Ukraine Contact Group, which includes representatives of Kiev, separatist rebels, Moscow and the pan-European security body the OSCE.

Nato is planning a rapid reaction force of thousands of troops to reinforce its eastern flank, a move Russia says is evidence of the alliance’s desire to aggravate tensions with Moscow.

Mr Putin, meanwhile, called on both Ukrainian rebels and government forces to cease fire and agree to the broad terms of a truce ending their four-month war.

His first direct appeal to the insurgents to lay down their weapons came hours after President Poroshenko said he and the Russian president had agreed on a ceasefire deal.

The announcements raised hopes of an end to fighting that has killed at least 2,600 people and driven relations between Russia and the West to their lowest ebb since the Cold War.

Mr Putin outlined a seven-point peace plan that included the end “of active offensive operations by the (Ukrainian) armed forces and armed rebel units in the southeast of Ukraine”.

The Russian leader added that he expected a final agreement to be announced by the insurgents and Kiev representatives during European-mediated negotiations on Friday in the Belarussian capital Minsk.

Mr Poroshenko’s office said the two presidents agreed by telephone on “a permanent ceasefire in Donbass (eastern Ukraine)”. “An understanding was reached concerning steps that will help to establish peace,” a statement said.

The Kremlin denies giving more than moral support to the insurgents who began their uprising against Kiev’s new Western-backed leaders in April.

But Western powers say Moscow has been orchestrating the war as part of a land grab that started with the annexing by Russian troops of Crimea, a strategic region on the Black Sea, in March.

US President Barack Obama, on a highly symbolic visit to former Soviet republic and new Nato member Estonia, reacted cautiously to initial reports of a ceasefire deal, saying it was “too early to early to tell”.

“There is an opportunity here. Let’s see if there is a follow up,” Mr Obama said.

There was also still doubt over whether pro-Russia rebel commanders who have been routing Ukraine’s army in recent fighting would comply.

One rebel representative of the eastern district of Donetsk said the rebels would halt fire only if government forces retreated from eastern cities they had been shelling in recent weeks.

Published in Dawn, September 4th, 2014