KIEV, March 18 - Moscow reacted sharply after Ukraine agreed on Tuesday to confer special status on rebel-controlled eastern regions and grant them limited self-rule - but only once local elections had been held under Ukrainian law, something unpalatable for rebel leaders who have proclaimed their own "people's republics,” Reuters reported.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the Ukrainian parliament had sought to "re-write" the agreement reached in Minsk, Belarus, last month. The Kremlin said the Minsk deal was now further away from being realized than it was a few days ago.

In Kiev, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk responded that no one on the Ukrainian side had much optimism that Russia "and the terrorists" would readily fulfill the Minsk plan.

"First and foremost: to comply with the Minsk agreements, the Russian bandits must clear out of the territory of Ukraine and give the possibility to Ukraine of carrying out honest and transparent elections in line with international standards," he said in televised comments at a government meeting.

The dispute, which could lead the deal into a dead-end, highlighted the different strategies toward the issue of self-rule in the east.

Kiev is pushing a decentralization agenda in which it makes concessions aimed at blunting a drive for independence, while Moscow appears to be supporting a push by the rebels for powers that could give them veto over national policy and coming closer to officially recognizing the setting-up of the two "people's republics" in Ukraine's east.

The ceasefire struck at the summit of the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France in Minsk came under pressure with the Kiev military saying one Ukrainian soldier had been killed in rebel attacks in the past 24 hours and five wounded.

Fighting in a conflict in which more than 6,000 people have been killed has greatly diminished, although huge areas of Ukraine's industrialized east, including the big cities of Donetsk and Luhansk, are under rebel control.

Heavy military equipment has been withdrawn to put the opposing sides out of range of each other's big guns in line with the agreement.

There is concern in Kiev that Mariupol, a port city of half a million on the Sea of Azov and which is still held by the government, could be a prime target for the Russian-backed rebels should the ceasefire collapse. (rt/ez)