WARSAW, October 6 (RIA Novosti) - NATO is concerned about numerous violations of the ceasefire in the east of Ukraine, the new NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Monday.
"The ceasefire is important. It is a reason for concern that we see so many violations of the ceasefire," Stoltenberg said during a joint press conference with Polish National Defense Minister Tomasz Siemoniak and Polish Foreign Affairs Minister Grzegorz Schetyna.
The secretary general also said he wanted "to commend the government in Ukraine for doing a lot, to both [abide] the cease-fire and also to contribute to a political solution."
Stoltenberg, a former Norwegian prime minister, took office as NATO chief October 1. Poland was Stoltenberg's first state visit in his new position. He went to Warsaw to reassure the country that the alliance is ready to provide thorough protection for its member states.
In April, Kiev authorities launched a military operation in southeastern Ukraine, where independence supporters refused to accept the new government which came to power as a result of the February coup.
On September 5, a ceasefire agreement was reached between Kiev authorities and the self-proclaimed people's republics of Donetsk and Luhansk (DPR and LPR). The agreement was signed in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, at the meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine, which comprised representatives from Russia, Ukraine and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
Both the Kiev forces and independence fighters have been accusing each other of violating the ceasefire. On October 5, the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council admitted that the ceasefire in Donbas had been violated, but said it had been done by uncontrolled military groups.
