UPDATE - Russia and Ukraine "reach mutual understanding"
Ukraine and Russia have agreed to a complete ceasefire in Eastern Ukraine, a spokesman for Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on Wednesday.
Russia and Ukraine have agreed to try and swiftly resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine, although there was disagreement about whether this constituted a permanent "ceasefire" as claimed in Kiev.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said the two countries have "reached mutual understanding on the steps that will facilitate the establishment of peace".
In a statement on his official website, Poroshenko said he had held discussions over the phone with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
Earlier on Wednesday, Russian officials denied reports that Russia had agreed to a permanent ceasefire in eastern Ukraine, although they discussed measures to resolve the fighting, according to RIA Novosti.
The Kremlin released a statement saying that Putin and Poroshenko had not agreed on a ceasefire because "Russia isn't a side in the conflict".
"In the course of today's phone call between Putin and Poroshenko there was indeed an exchange of views that went a long way toward an agreement on steps to be taken for a swift end to the clashes taking place between the Ukrainian military and south-eastern uprising," Putin's spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told RIA Novosti.
However, discussions did include possible measures to resolve the conflict.
Even so, some analysts warned that it might be a Russian ruse to avoid the European Union imposing new sanctions.
"The result of a conversation was an agreement on a permanent cease-fire in Donbass," said a statement on the Ukrainian president's website, which has since been amended.
DC