File Photo: Vacheslav Ponomarev, left, the self-proclaimed mayor of Slovyansk, surrounded by bodyguards, walks in Slovyansk, eastern Ukraine, Saturday, May 3, 2014.
A top Ukrainian separatist leader said on Monday that the pro-Russian rebels would agree to a temporary ceasefire and seek talks with the new Western-backed president on ending 10 weeks of fighting in the industrial east.
"In response to the ceasefire declared by Kiev, we pledge to also halt fire on our part," Oleksandr Borodai of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic was quoted as saying by the ITAR-TASS news agency in Donetsk. "This ceasefire will last until June 27."