Extended cease-fire for eastern Ukraine set to expire late Monday

KIEV, Ukraine, June 30 (UPI) -- Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko extended a cease-fire for the restive eastern region beyond its June 27 deadline until 10 p.m. local time on Monday.

The presidential press service noted that during the truce, Poroshenko expected "the points recruiting mercenaries in the territory of the Russian Federation to close and illegal armed units to stop movement on the territory of Donetsk and Luhansk regions."

In the last 24 hours of the cease-fire, however, Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council reported eight violations by pro-Russian separatists. NSDC spokesman Andriy Lysenko noted Monday that militants had fired on Ukrainian military vehicles in the village of Shyshkove, three miles from Luhansk.

French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone with the Ukrainian president on Sunday. According to a readout from the Kremlin, "They called on Poroshenko to extend the ceasefire for a longer period."

Poroshenko has not yet announced whether he will again extend the cease-fire.