(VOVworld) – Federalists in Southeast Ukraine were required to cease fire until 10 am local time this Friday. The announcement was made by Alexander Borodai, a leader of the self-styled "Donetsk People's Republic”, following preliminary peace negotiations in Donetsk on Monday.

Alexander Borodai, the prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, attends a news conference in Donetsk on June 21

He expressed his hope that the truce would pave the way for serious peace talks between legal representatives from the government and the Southeast region. Andriy Parubiy, Head of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, said the participants at Monday's talks had agreed to the ceasefire and Kiev would take this as an opportunity to free hostages and rebuild infrastructure damaged by military activities .

Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Barack Obama had  a telephone conversation on Monday, in which Putin stressed the importance of ending military activities in the East and pushing peace talks between the conflicting parties. For his part, Obama expressed his desire that Russia and its President use their influence to help create peace and security in eastern Ukraine.