KIEV, Ukraine— President Petro Poroshenko said on Friday that a "real cease-fire” was now in place in eastern Ukraine after the country saw one full day pass without a military casualty since the conflict began in mid-April.

"I have positive news. Today is the first 24 hours for seven months... when we have a real cease-fire in Ukraine," he told an audience at the Lowy Institute during his three-day visit to Australia, according to his administration's website.

However, Poroshenko admitted the standoff remained shaky, but said that if the ceasefire continued to hold it would be "a great step for peace and stability in Ukraine."

"Everything is so fragile. But I pray that we should continue this process," he added.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov seemed to agree. “The chance for peace in Ukraine has appeared. It was difficult, but nonetheless a ceasefire has been reached,” he said in a statement carried by state media on Friday.

Poroshenko's comments came as he wrapped up his first trip to Australia since he was elected president in May, after accepting an invitation from the Australian prime minister, Tony Abbott. The two leaders discussed security issues in the wake of the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in July, as well as economic cooperation.

The passenger jet carrying 298 people, including 38 Australians, was shot out of the sky near Donetsk. All on board were killed. Kiev and the West have accused the separatists of downing the plane with a Russian-made, surface-to-air missile system called a Buk. Moscow has denied the allegations and put forth its own version of events. It believes a Ukrainian fighter jet opened fire on the airliner.

Poroshenko used the opportunity on Friday to again call for Russian President Vladimir Putin to put an end the conflict in Ukraine. “Let’s stop it, let’s get Russian troops out of Ukraine, let’s close the Russian-Ukrainian border,” he said.

The president was met with chants of "Glory to Ukraine" and applause by Ukrainians dressed in traditional garb and waving the country's blue and yellow flag over the course of his visit.

Щиро вдячний за підтримку українським діаспорянам в Сіднеї. Разом - сила! pic.twitter.com/HNGFcgxLvj — Петро Порошенко (@poroshenko) December 12, 2014

Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council estimates there are some 30,000 separatist fighters, including as many as 10,000 Russians, in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.

More than 4,300 people have been killed and upwards of a million displaced in eastern Ukraine since fighting between Ukrainian government forces and Russian-backed separatists started, according to the United Nations. Though a ceasefire deal was reached on Sept. 5, there have been over 1,000 deaths, including Ukrainian servicemen, rebels and civilians, due to continued fighting.

Ukraine this week moved to restore the ceasefire with the separatists, imposing a "day of silence" that was broken briefly by shelling on Tuesday but has largely held.

Kiev and the West have blamed Moscow for meddling in the east by supporting the separatists with cash, weapons and personnel. Russia has denied doing so.

Kiev has asked the U.S. for lethal military aid to better defend itself, but the U.S. thus far is only providing Kiev with non-lethal military assistance.

However, the U.S. Senate on Thursday passed legislation to provide lethal and non-lethal aid to Ukraine, and levy harsher sanctions against Russia over its involvement in the ongoing Ukrainian conflict.

The bill, called the Ukraine Freedom Support Act, aims to help Ukraine combat the separatists in the country's war-stricken east. It will also aid Syrian rebels because Russian arms companies have sold weapons to Syrian President Bashar Assad, The Hill reported.

“The hesitant U.S. response to Russia’s continued invasion of Ukraine threatens to escalate this conflict even further," said Sen. Bob Corker, ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "Unanimous support for our bill demonstrates a firm commitment to Ukrainian sovereignty and to making sure [Russian President Vladimir] Putin pays for his assault on freedom and security in Europe.”

Senate unanimously passes Corker legislation to support #Ukraine, expand sanctions against #Russia http://t.co/viyxlk25UW — Senator Bob Corker (@SenBobCorker) December 11, 2014

The bill, coauthored by Corker and Senator Robert Menendez, would also provide Ukraine with "energy, defense sector, and civil society assistance, and expand broadcasting programs to counter Russian propaganda in countries of the former Soviet Union," read a press release on the Foreign Relations Committee website.

The U.S. and the European Union have imposed multiple rounds of sanctions against Russia, targeting its banking, defense and energy sectors, but also including travel bans and asset freezes on top officials and who it believes are supporting the separatists.

Grateful to US Congress for passing Ukraine Freedom Support Act pic.twitter.com/29yfv5pAlq — Петро Порошенко (@poroshenko) December 12, 2014

The bill will need to be passed in the House of Representatives before it goes to the president for consideration.

But the Obama administration has yet to approve the Ukrainian government’s repeated requests for arms, saying a diplomatic solution to the conflict can still be achieved. Should the bill pass and move to the White House, it is unlikely that the president will sign off on it, analysts say.

Speaking in Kiev last month, Gen. Philip Breedlove, Supreme Allied Commander Europe and Commander of U.S. European Command, toed the administration's line, saying he, too, believed in diplomacy in this case, but said that "all options are on the table."

"I would not give up diplomatic means at this point," Breedlove said. "Force has its own voice. Right now we see a diplomatic way forward here in Ukraine."