CRI听力:Ukraine Signs Partnership Deals with EU

Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova have signed partnership agreements with the European Union. This comes as a week-long ceasefire is about to end in eastern Ukraine in just a few hours. CRI's Tu Yun has details.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko says the singing is a momentous occasion for his country.

"It's result of seven years' work. It's absolutely a new perspective for my country and I think this is one of the most historic days after getting independence. And I think we can use this opportunity to modernise the country."

At the end of last year, then-President Viktor Yanukovych rejected the long-anticipated agreement in order to join a Russian-led customs union.

This led to wide-spread protests in the country and Yanukovych fleeing the country.

The signing comes as Ukraine's week-long ceasefire is set to end later today.

As part of the ceasefire deal, officials of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic released four members of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Two groups of OSCE monitors including eight observers were kidnapped at the end of last month.

The Luhansk-based team has not yet been released.

Meanwhile, as the cease-fire plan enters its final hours, thousands of Ukrainians have fled their homes and have lined up at the border to cross into Russia.

Anastasia is one of them.

"It's scary. We are afraid for the kid. We don't know what will happen tomorrow, if there is or isn't a ceasefire. It's really scary, everybody is leaving and running away. It's scary. If we didn't have a kid it would probably be easier."

Russia's migration service says it has registered the arrival of 90,000 Ukrainians since Ukraine's government began fighting rebels in the east.

The UN estimates air strikes and artillery attacks by the Ukrainian military have killed over 400 people since mid-April.

For CRI, I'm Tu Yun.