Citing progress in diplomacy and this weekend's Easter holiday, Ukrainian officials say they've suspended an "anti-terrorist operation" that is aimed at pro-Russian forces who have occupied government buildings in eastern Ukraine.
The move comes after an international group including Ukrainian officials, Secretary of State John Kerry and Russia's top diplomat Sergei Lavrov reached an agreement late this week in Geneva that would compel the separatists to disarm and abandon the buildings they've taken in parts Donetsk and other cities with large Russian-speaking populations in eastern Ukraine.
"In exchange, the government in Kiev would give the regions more autonomy, offer equal status to the Russian language – which are two of the things the rebels have been asking for from the beginning," NPR's Ari Shapiro tells Wade Goodwyn on Weekend Edition Saturday.
But Ari notes that the agreement reached in Geneva faces challenges in Ukraine.
"At this point, the occupiers say they will only lay down their weapons and leave if the interim government in Kiev also steps down," he says.
At an occupied building in Donetsk, the rebels displayed a sign Friday that read, "Yanukovych is our only president," Ari notes.
The separatists have also demanded an independence referendum next month, before Ukraine is scheduled to hold elections to install a permanent government to replace the ousted President Viktor Yanukovych.
"The anti-terrorist operation continues. How long it is going to last, it depends on when the terrorists leave our territory. Due to the Easter holidays and the Geneva agreements, the operation is not in its active phase at the moment," Ukraine's Security Service press secretary Maryna Ostapenko said, according to a news release from the defense ministry.
The BBC has this look at the broader picture:
"The US has threatened more sanctions if Russia fails to abide by the agreement."The Kremlin responded by accusing the White House of treating Moscow like a 'guilty schoolboy.'"
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