KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine's president says that the government has signed much-anticipated accords with Ukrainian separatists, Russia and European monitors to agree on a temporary law in the separatist-controlled east.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy told a news conference in Kyiv on Tuesday that Ukraine has agreed to a snap local election to be held in eastern Ukraine, which has been controlled by Russia-backed separatists since April 2014. The conflict between the separatists and government troops has killed more than 13,000 people.

Officials in Russia hailed Tuesday's accords as a major achievement in the peace process for eastern Ukraine.

Zelenskiy on Tuesday dispelled fears about excessive concessions to the separatists, saying that elections will be held only when Ukraine's regains control of all its borders with Russia.