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September 10, 2014: Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, right, talks with Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk in Kiev, Ukraine. (AP Photo/Andrew Kravchenko, Pool)

Ukraine's president has claimed that most Russian forces have left his country in the latest conciliatory move aimed at stoking a peace campaign that began last week, while the European Union slapped new economic sanctions on Russia.

Reuters reported that Petro Poroshenko told a televised Cabinet meeting that "70 percent of Russian troops have been moved back across the border ... This further strengthens our hope that the peace initiatives have good prospects."

He also said 700 Ukrainian prisoners had been freed from rebel captivity and expressed hope that another 500 would be freed by the end of the week.

Estimates of the number of Russian troops that have taken part in the five-month old Ukrainian conflict have varied, with NATO estimating that at least 1,000 regular forces have been involved. For its part, Moscow has repeatedly denied training or equipping separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine.

Poroshenko added the cease-fire was being tested by "terrorists" who attempted to provoke Ukrainian government forces. Ukraine claims that five servicemen have been killed during the cease-fire, while a civilian also died as a result of shelling in the port city of Mariupol.

On Thursday, two volleys of Grad rocket fire rang out in Ukraine's eastern, rebel-held city of Donetsk. The city council of Donetsk confirmed in a statement there had been multiple explosions during the morning, but reported no casualties.

Poroshenko said government forces are "regrouping" in an effort to defend Ukrainian territory from further attacks by separatists, who succeeded in breaking Kiev's encirclement of Donetsk and Luhansk with a fresh Russian-backed offensive just prior to last week's cease-fire.

New sanctions that the European Union imposed on Russia will further curb access to European capital markets for Russian firms and banks, limit exports of certain high-technology goods and target several officials with travel bans and asset freezes, diplomats told The Associated Press in Brussels.

The sanctions will take effect Friday following their publication in the EU's official journal but will be reversible if the situation in eastern Ukraine improves, four diplomats said independently. They spoke on condition of anonymity pending the official announcement.

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Ukraine president says most Russian troops have left