However, Donetsk negotiator Denis Pushilin and his Luhansk counterpart Vladislav Deinego did not say when exactly they now intend to hold the elections.
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Local chiefs in the Russia-controlled Donetsk and Luhansk “republics” in east Ukraine earlier on Tuesday announced they’ll no longer hold their own votes in late October and early November, as planned.
Their statement is significant as the two men are representing rebels at peace talks in Minsk, Belarus, mediated by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe or OSCE.
The West has accused Russian Federation of backing the separatists with weapons and troops, charges Moscow denies.
Ukrainian military spokesman Ruslan Tkachuk said the “synchronised withdrawal from the front line” began at 11am local time (8am GMT) in Luhansk region, involving T-64 and T-72 tanks, as well as anti-tank cannon and mortars.
Kiev says any polls held not according to Ukrainian law would be “fake”.
Poroshenko has had trouble getting the legislature even to approve a tame constitutional amendment allowing for a special status of the rebel-held regions; riots broke out outside the parliament building during the vote and police suffered casualties.
Ukrainian forces on Tuesday began withdrawing tanks from the demarcation line with Lugansk – the smaller of the industrial regions resisting Kiev’s leadership.
Poroshenko’s remarks came a day after the separatists delayed until next year local elections they had planned for the coming weeks.
But the rebels and Moscow argued that Ukraine would only regain its territorial integrity after Kiev followed through on all the commitments it made in February – something Ukraine has failed to do.
Poroshenko said his meeting with Putin and the leaders of Germany and France in Paris on Friday “helped us if not necessarily end, then at least firmly pause the conflict’s active phase”.
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Ukraine’s president and Russian lawmakers hailed the move as a step toward peace.
