Russian President Vladimir Putin has urged Kiev to stop fighting and begin peace talks with the rebels after artillery fire occurred in eastern Ukraine last night, according to Reuters.

“We need to ensure that all fighting is stopped,” said Putin in a statement on the Kremlin website.  The Russian president repeated his support for the ceasefire and peace plan between Kiev and the residents of Eastern Ukraine proposed by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

Part of the proposed Ukrainian plan to end the rebel insurgency in the east included a seven-day ceasefire by the Ukrainian forces that began at 10 p.m. last Friday.  Fighting resumed Saturday after pro-Russian separatists attacked a military base and Ukrainian posts on the Russian border and attempted to storm an air force base, according to government forces.

Ground fighters in Donetsk, east Ukraine, did not appear eager to surrender amid claims that the ceasefire had been broken by Ukrainian forces, reports The Guardian.  Hundreds of lives have been lost in recent weeks,  including those of civilians in residential areas shelled by the Ukraine army. Refugees by the thousands have crossed from the conflict zone into Russia.

In February 2014 street protests in Kiev, the capital city of  Ukraine, toppled former President Viktor Yanukovich, the Moscow-backed leader; he fled the city.  When the insurgency erupted  in the Russian-speaking east in April, Russia subsequently annexed Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula. Kiev has accused Russia of agitating unrest in the east and providing logistical support to the insurgents.

The call of President Putin for a ceasefire and dialogue for peace is the strongest sign to date that the Russian leader will support the attempt of Kiev to regain control over the east.  “It is the political process that is most important. It is important that this ceasefire open the way to a dialogue between all of the parties to the combat, so as to find solutions that will be acceptable to all sides, in order to ensure that people in southeast Ukraine have no doubt that they are an integral part of the country,” said Putin.