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KIEV Tue Dec 16, 2014 12:29pm EST

Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko delivers remarks during an ecumenical church service held at Ukrainian Greek Eparchy of Saints Peter and Paul of Melbourne, December 11, 2014.

Credit: Reuters/Mal Fairclough/Pool

KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine's separatist east passed the night into Tuesday without any shooting, President Petro Poroshenko said, hailing the first such stretch of calm as a positive signal for the next steps in a peace plan.

Army chief of staff Viktor Muzhenko also stressed progress had been made on the implementation of the ceasefire, but said one Ukrainian soldier had since been killed on Tuesday.

Ukraine is under pressure from Western backers to defuse the conflict, which has left many people struggling to survive the winter, while the cost of the fighting has pushed former Soviet republic towards the brink of bankruptcy.

A 12-point ceasefire protocol was worked out in September to end the conflict between government forces and Russian-backed separatists in which over 4,700 people have been killed.

But the truce was repeatedly flouted and Kiev made clear it would not carry out ensuing steps stipulated by the accord until the guns fell silent.

"Today was the first night when we didn't have a single shelling," Poroshenko said at a partly-televised meeting with security aides. "Today we face the extremely crucial task of implementing the peace plan."

Rebels disagreed with Poroshenko's assessment, accusing Kiev of further artillery bursts overnight. But his comments sounded an upbeat note ahead of a two-day visit to Kiev by the new European Union foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini.

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Ukraine's Poroshenko hails first full overnight truce in ...