A ceasefire will begin in eastern Ukraine on Sunday, Feb 15, the leaders of Russia and Ukraine have announced, according to BBC News.

"We have managed to agree on the main issues," Russia's Vladimir Putin said after marathon talks with Ukraine's Petro Poroshenko, as well the leaders of France and Germany.

French President Francois Hollande said it was a "serious deal" but not everything had been agreed.

Thousands of people have been killed in the fighting in the east of Ukraine.

The meeting in Belarus - which began on Wednesday - focused on securing a ceasefire, withdrawal of heavy weapons and creating a demilitarized zone in eastern Ukraine.