NATO head Jens Stoltenberg has outlined additional support for Kyiv, including aid in defusing roadside bombs, and warned of a return to heavy fighting in eastern Ukraine.

Speaking in Brussels at a June 25 meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council, Stoltenberg also urged Moscow to halt its support for pro-Russia rebels.



The Council was set up by NATO to coordinate relations with nonmember Ukraine after the end of the Cold War.



Stoltenberg said NATO is creating a new trust fund that will help with removing mines and detecting and destroying improvised explosive devices.

Those steps, he said, will be vital for saving lives in a conflict that has killed more than 6,500 people since April last year.

Stoltenberg also said the alliance is taking steps to better secure the airspace in the region.

He said Poland, Norway, and Turkey will be sharing more airport traffic control data with Ukraine, which is critical because it's "an area which is unstable and where we see fighting going on, on the ground."

A February cease-fire has largely held but in recent weeks there has been an upsurge in fighting.

Stoltenberg said Russia continues to support pro-Moscow separatists "with training, weapons and soldiers," a charge the Kremlin denies.

Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP