Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko agreed to a "permanent ceasefire" in fighting engulfing the east of the ex-Soviet state

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko agreed to a "permanent ceasefire" in fighting engulfing the east of the ex-Soviet state, the Ukrainian leader's office said on Wednesday.
  
Putin and Poroshenko held a telephone call "that resulted in an agreement for a permanent ceasefire in Donbass (eastern Ukraine)," the Ukrainian president's office said in a statement.

Putin and Poroshenko met last week in Minsk but made no progress towards ending the conflict which has intensified in recent weeks as the West and Kiev accused Russia of deploying troops in Ukraine.

Russia has repeatedly denied its soldiers have been sent into Ukraine.