New truce in Ukraine mostly holds

Ukraine's army said that across the area of conflict in the east of the country, its soldiers had come under fire from pro-Russian separatist fighters 60 times during the first day of the new ceasefire.

Military spokesman Anatoliy Stelmakh said that the strategic railway town of Debaltseve was "the main hotspot." The insurgents "shot using every kind of weapon, including Grad (multiple) rockets," he added.

The separatists said the truce was holding for the most part, but they accused Ukraine's army of occasional breaches. Eduard Basurin, a senior rebel commander, claimed Debaltseve as rebel territory, where they had encircled thousands of Ukrainian soldiers.

The truce is meant to be the first step of a peace plan aimed at ending 10 months of conflict that have claimed more than 5,480 lives.

International mediation

There was a four-way telephone conversation on Sunday between Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande, who had helped mediate the truce, and the leaders of Ukraine and Russia.

According to a statement from his office, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said the ceasefire should be implemented all along the frontline, "including the area of Debaltseve."

Under the terms of the ceasefire, both sides are expected to pull their heavy weaponry back from the frontline within 48 hours of the start of the ceasefire. That would be 2200 UTC Monday.

Observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) have been mandated to monitor the truce. A statement from the OSCE said the ceasefire was holding on Sunday "with some exceptions," most notably Debaltseve, where its observers "heard artillery and Grad shelling during a 69 minute period."

The OSCE said rebels had blocked their access to Debaltseve, but observers would try again to reach the town on Monday.

The UN Security Council is to meet in emergency session Sunday to discuss the truce.

jm/bw (AFP, AP, Reuters)