Ukraine cease-fire goes into effect amid unease

Ukrainian soldiers
(Image credit: Brendan Hoffman / Getty Images)

After months of escalating clashes, Ukrainian and pro-Russian separatists pulled back on Sunday as a cease-fire agreement went into place at midnight.

Fighting between the two sides ramped up in recent days, but the new truce appeared to be holding in the early hours despite reports of isolated skirmishes. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko announced shortly after midnight Sunday that he had ordered his troops to stand down, though he added Kiev would not "turn the other cheek" should the rebels violate the truce.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Jon Terbush

Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.