Ukraine’s president defends election in rebel-held east

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s president has defended agreeing to hold a local election in the country’s rebel-held east and vowed the vote will be free and fair.
Ukraine, Russia and mediators Germany and France signed an accord on Tuesday with Russia-backed separatists. A five-year conflict between the separatists and Ukrainian troops in eastern Ukraine has killed more than 13,000 people.
Some in Ukraine saw the agreement as a capitulation to Russia. Hundreds of people rallied