NATO boss warns of fragile Ukraine situation

"What we have seen is that the ceasefire is mainly holding and this is of course encouraging, because that was not the case before," said Stoltenberg (top photo, left), speaking at a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

The ceasefire, which began on September 1, is part of a deal between Kyiv and eastern rebels that was signed in Minsk last February. Shelling has dropped from about 200 a day to between one and four since the truce started, said Poroshenko, adding that there were no casualties in the last two days, "neither killed nor wounded."

However, the NATO head warned that the situation was still fragile. "Russia continues to support the separatists - they provide them with weapons, with different kinds of equipment, with training, with forces," Stoltenberg told journalists.

First visit

The trip marks Stoltenberg's first time in the country since he assumed NATO's top post a year ago. Together with Poroshenko, he visited the city of Lviv in western Ukraine on Monday to inaugurate a joint disaster response drill.

More than 1,000 rescuers from 34 countries are participating in the exercise, which tests the capability of authorities to respond to a mine explosion, collapse and the resulting earth tremors.

On Tuesday, Stoltenberg is scheduled to meet with the National Security and Defense Council and hold talks with Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk.

Ukraine is not a member of NATO, but the alliance has been supporting the Eastern European country ever since Moscow annexed Crimea in March 2014 and allegedly backed separatists in Ukraine's east. However, NATO has consistently refused to deliver weapons to Kyiv.

Poroshenko said that neither his country nor NATO were ready for Ukraine to join the alliance. "But we should work to change my country," Poroshenko said, adding that Kyiv was working toward implementing democratic reforms, the rule of law and eradicating corruption.

mg/cmk (dpa, AP)