Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko says he has agreed with the Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone on a "ceasefire process" for the country's east.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. Photo: AFP
His office initially reported that a "permanent ceasefire" had been agreed, but later revised its statement, the BBC reports. It says they have reached a mutual understanding on "steps leading to peace".
The Kremlin stressed that Mr Putin had not agreed to a ceasefire as Russia was not party to the conflict.
The announcement comes as US President Barack Obama met Baltic leaders in Estonia ahead of a Nato summit.
He was to hold talks in the capital Tallinn with the presidents of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - all former Soviet states which joined Nato a decade ago.
The Nato summit in Wales is expected to back plans for a rapid response force.
Meanwhile, the death of a Russian photojournalist in Ukraine last month has been confirmed.
Rossia Sevodnya news agency photojournalist Andrei Stenin was killed on 6 August in a Ukrainian government ambush on a convoy of rebels and refugees near Donetsk, Russia's Investigative Committee announced.
His charred remains have only now been identified.