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Ukraine's prime minister said on Saturday Russian President Vladimir Putin aimed to destroy Ukraine as an independent country and said only NATO could defend the ex-Soviet republic from external aggression.

Kiev and its Western backers accuse Moscow of sending troops and tanks into eastern Ukraine in support of pro-Russian separatists battling Ukrainian forces in a conflict that has killed more than 3,000 people. Russia denies the accusations.

A fragile ceasefire negotiated by envoys from Ukraine, Russia, the separatists and Europe's OSCE security watchdog, has been in place in eastern Ukraine for more than a week and is broadly holding despite sporadic violations.

"We are still in a stage of war and the key aggressor is the Russian Federation ... Putin wants another frozen conflict (in eastern Ukraine)," Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk told a conference attended by European and Ukrainian lawmakers and business leaders.

Yatseniuk said Putin would not be content only with Crimea - annexed by Moscow in March - and with Ukraine's mainly Russian-speaking eastern region.

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"His goal is to take all of Ukraine ... Russia is a threat to the global order and to the security of the whole of Europe," said Yatseniuk, who is known for his hawkish rhetoric.

Asked about future NATO membership, a red line for Russia, Yatseniuk said he realized the alliance was not ready now to admit Kiev, but added: "NATO in these particular circumstances is the only vehicle to protect Ukraine."

There is no prospect of the Atlantic alliance admitting Ukraine, a sprawling country of 45 million people between central Europe and Russia, but Kiev has stepped up cooperation with NATO in a range of areas and has pressed member states to sell it weapons to help defeat the separatists.

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A convoy of more than 200 white trucks crossed the Russian border to deliver humanitarian aid to a battered Ukrainian city on Saturday, a move made without Kiev's consent yet met with silence by Ukraine's top leaders.

"Early in the morning, we entered Ukraine to bring aid to Luhansk," said Yury Stepanov, a Russian who was overseeing the convoy. "We came in around 215 vehicles," he added, as workers unloaded boxes into a local warehous.

The much-needed aid arrived as fighting flared again between pro-Russian rebels and government forces, further imperiling an already fragile cease-fire in the region.

On Saturday, Ukraine's military operation in the east said it had repelled a rebel attack on the government-held airport of Donetsk, which came under artillery fire from rebel positions late on Friday. Ukrainian authorities also admitted for the first time since the cease-fire started last week that they have inflicted casualties on the rebel side.

Continuous rocket fire could be heard overnight in Donetsk. A statement on the city council website said that shells hit residential buildings near the airport, although no casualties were reported. A column of three Grad rocket launchers all its rockets still in place was seen moving freely through the rebel-held city on Saturday morning.

In the other regional capital of Luhansk, one of the worst-hit cities where tens of thousands have been without water, electricity, or phone connections for weeks, the streets were calm as Russian drivers unloaded aid packages into local warehouses.

Stepanov said the goods consisted mainly of foodstuffs rice, sugar, and canned fish and beef but also included medicine, technical equipment and clothes. The deliveries were in closed boxes, small enough to be easily carried by one person, but rice was seen spilling from a broken bag.

Inside the warehouse, an Associated Press journalist saw water bottles carrying the logo of Russia's LDPR party, led by virulent nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky.

While dozens of local workers unloaded boxes, several carloads of armed militiamen in camouflage arrived to inspect the scene.

Stepanov said his team was responsible only for delivery, and distribution will be handled by local authorities which for now means the separatist leaders of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic.

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Ukraine PM Says Country Still in 'State of War'

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