A pro-Russian rebel leader in Ukraine’s breakaway east said Monday that separatist groups would observe a weeklong ceasefire, a move that raises hope of a breakthrough in the crisis but could nonetheless be undone by fighting on the ground. Alexander Borodai, the self-proclaimed prime minister of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, said rebels would lay down their arms in line with a cease-fire declared Friday by the Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. “The consultation ended with authorities of the Luhansk and Donetsk Republics agreeing to maintain a ceasefire for their part until the 27th,” Borodai said, following the first face-to-face meeting between separatists and intermediaries from the Ukrainian and Russian governments. It comes despite claims from both sides of numerous violations of the proposed ceasefire over the weekend and amid ongoing skepticism over the chances of a more permanent peace. Borodai’s comments came after Monday’s meeting in Donetsk attended by, […]