NATO accuses Moscow of a significant military build up in the region

But comes amid claims of weapons smuggling in Russian 'aid convoys'

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe made the deal

Comments come as truce agreed between Ukraine and separatist rebels

Statesman says relations healed in 1980s when 'a lot tougher than now'

Says that the stand-off between Moscow and the west 'must be stopped'

The former Soviet leader spoke as Howitzers rumble in from Russia

Mikhail Gorbachev has accused America of firing up a new Cold War while Russian tanks rumble into Ukraine's eastern region amid a ceasefire deal between Ukrainian forces and separatist rebels

Mikhail Gorbachev has accused America of firing up a new Cold War and has called on 'avid militarists' to leave Europe - while Russian tanks rumble into Ukraine's eastern territory.

The former Soviet leader spoke out as Ukrainian forces and separatist rebels agreed to a partial ceasefire in the civil war in the east of the country, which has claimed at least 4,300 lives.

But despite the deal brokered, Ukraine yesterday said a military convoy of 106 vehicles including Howitzer tanks rolled into its Donetsk region from Russia without permission.

Mr Gorbachev said there was still time to defuse the standoff between Moscow and the West as he and his western counterparts had done during the Perestroika period.

'Now there are once again signs of a Cold War,' he said in an interview with Tass, the state-owned Russian news agency.

'This process can and must be stopped. After all, we did it in the 1980s. We opted for de-escalation, for the reunification (of Germany).

'And back then it was a lot tougher than now. So we could do it again.'

Mr Gorbachev did not refer to Ukraine directly but hinted at the conflict where the pro-EU government in Kiev is backed by the West while Moscow supports separatist rebels in the east.

His comments came as Ukraine's military and separatist forces 'agreed in principle' to the new truce to bring 'a total ceasefire along the entire line of contact' in the Lugansk region.

But differences remained on certain details, according to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OCSE) who negotiated the deal.

The truce, which is set to begin on Friday, comes exactly three months after the much violated September 5 ceasefire to end the separatist rebellion which began in April in Luhansk and Donetsk.

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A woman looks at the ruins of her flat in flat in the Petrovskiy district in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk. Fighting is still reported between pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainian troops in spite of ceasefire talks today

A man stands next to a burnt out vehicle and a crater caused by a mortar shell, in the Petrovskiy district of the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk. The city is controlled by Donetsk People's Republic (DNR) rebels

Unmarked personnel carriers travel in eastern Ukraine where a new ceasefire has been agreed 'in principle' by the military and pro-Russian rebels

In snowy conditions, Howitzer tanks rumble into the Donetsk region of Ukraine, despite the newly agreed truce

A military convoy rolls into Donetsk where a temporary truce has been agreed after fighting intensified for control of airport

A howitzer tank on the road between rebel held Luhansk and Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. Ukraine has accused Russia of using humanitarian aid shipments to smuggle weapons

The ceasefire is not expected to affect ongoing hostilities at Donetsk airport, the road and rail junction of Debaltsevo, and the sea port of Mariupol, where the rebel lines are held by the Donetsk People’s Republic, the LNR’s sister-statelet.

But, following days of fierce fighting, the Ukrainian military's press service said they had agreed to a temporary ceasefire at the airport in rebel held Donetsk, after talks with Russian officials.

'Particular attention will be paid to the question of Donetsk airport as it is a strategic site,' the press service said in a Facebook post.

However, suspicions remain on both sides with Ukraine yesterday saying that the military convoy had entered its eastern territory from Russia.

Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko yesterday accused Moscow of using humanitarian aid shipments to smuggle weapons and ammunition.

Ukrainian government soldiers on the front line in rebel held Donetsk where at least three soldiers have died in the last 48-hours

Rockets are fired during a Ukrainian military exercise in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, where a ceasefire has been agreed between the country's government and pro-Russian rebels

In Shchastya, north of Lugansk, a Ukrainian soldier fires a missile with a man-portable air-defence system during exercises

'Therefore they are able to increase the intensity (of attacks),' he said, adding that Russian special forces were bolstering the rebels in the area.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg also said the organisation had seen 'a significant military buildup in and around Ukraine, adding that there have been, 'large transfers of Russian advanced weapons, equipment and military personnel to violent separatists.'

More than 4,300 people have been killed in eastern Ukraine since separatist rebellions began following the ouster of former president Viktor Yanukovych after protests about his decision to abandon closer ties with the European Union.

After his removal, the Crimean peninsula, overwhelmingly ethnic Russian, was annexed by Moscow in March and the following month separatist rebellions began in the eastern Ukrainian regions of Luhansk and Donetsk. Ukraine wants the rebels to hand back the territory they have captured.

Russia denies using humanitarian convoys to transport weapons and rejects Western and Ukrainian accusations that it is arming the rebels and sending fighters to aid them.