Ukrainian president discusses Ukraine situation with NATO chief over phone

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg discussed the situation in eastern Ukraine during a phone conversation, the presidential press service said on Thursday.

Poroshenko has informed Stoltenberg that the conflict between government troops and independence-seeking fighters in Lugansk and Donetsk regions was escalating and the number of provocations against Ukrainian forces has increased, said the statement on the presidential website.

For his part, Stoltenberg stressed the importance of full implementation of the Minsk agreement to peacefully resolve the conflict, the statement said.

The two also discussed the implementation of NATO's Comprehensive Package of Assistance for Ukraine, which was approved last month during the summit of the Alliance in Warsaw, the capital of Poland.

Poroshenko said it would help Ukraine to modernize its army and bring it closer to NATO standards.

The 28-month-old conflict between government troops and independence-seeking insurgents in eastern Ukraine escalated last week, with the conflicting parties reporting an increase in the number of attacks. The OSCE said its monitors observed a presence of heavy weapons, which are banned by the Minsk ceasefire deal, on both sides of the contact line.

On Aug. 18, Poroshenko has voiced readiness to impose a martial law in the country if the crisis deepens further.

The Minsk agreement, signed in September 2014 and renewed in February 2015 in the Belarussian capital, is aimed at peacefully settling the conflict that has claimed more than 9,500 lives so far. Endit