U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry meets in Kyiv Thursday with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who is making a fresh appeal for Western weapons to help fight pro Russian rebels.

The Obama administration has so far provided only non-lethal aid to Ukraine's military, but U.S. officials have recently said they are willing to consider supplying weapons to help bring a quicker end to the conflict.

Ahead of his meeting with Kerry, President Poroshenko told Germany's Die Welt newspaper the recent escalation of the conflict should move NATO to provide Ukraine with more support, including modern weapons.

"We still need a lot of military, technical, and specialist help to improve the fighting strength of the Ukrainian army in its resistance of Russian aggression," Poroshenko said in the interview.

A key Obama administration nominee voiced tentative support Wednesday for supplying lethal aid to Ukraine in its battle against pro-Russian separatists.

Ashton Carter, nominee for defense secretary, made the comment at his Senate confirmation hearing after Republican Senator John McCain asked him if he thought the United States should supply Kyiv with weapons to fight the rebels in eastern Ukraine. The hearing took place before the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee.