BBC:
10:59: Ukraine’s President Poroshenko has not agreed to a ceasefire with the “Donetsk people’s republic”, self-styled deputy prime minister of the breakaway republic Andrey Purgin says - BBC Monitoring via RIA Novosti news agency.
10:59: A pro-Moscow separatist leader tells Reuters the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the east is the main condition for peace in separatist-held areas. Vladimir Antyufeyev, a leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, said talk of a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine was a “provocation” because Russia was not a party to the conflict, the agency reports.
10:58: While Nato heads of state in Estonia focus on the Kremlin’s role in Ukraine, President Putin is meeting his Mongolian counterpart in Ulan Bator to talk about more trade and better transit links.
in other words...whens a ceasefire not a ceasefire........so no real change then, just more muddying of the waters.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/03/us-ukraine-crisis-idUSKBN0GX21720140903
Despite the confusion, the statements appeared to indicate a degree of progress that could influence European Union leaders as they consider introducing new sanctions against Russia as early as Friday.
In a contradictory signal, Moscow simultaneously announced plans for huge military exercises this month by the strategic rocket forces responsible for its long-range nuclear weapons. It said the maneuvers in south-central Russia would involve 4,000 troops and extensive use of air power.
The timing was clearly calculated to throw down a challenge to NATO and the United States, hours before President Barack Obama was due to deliver a speech on the crisis in Russia’s neighbor Estonia.