NATO Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller has said that the escalation of fighting in the east of Ukraine last week was the worst in the past two years and should not be accepted as normal.

"We are deeply concerned by the recent spike in violence. The ceasefire has been violated almost every day for the last two years. But last week, the OSCE, the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe, registered over 10,000 ceasefire violations in a single day. Including with heavy equipment banned under the Minsk Agreements. We have seen the heaviest fighting in the past two years. We must not accept this as the 'new normal'," Gottemoeller said at a press conference after a meeting with Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman in Brussels on Thursday.

She stressed NATO does not, and will not recognize the illegal annexation of Crimea and condemns Russia's continuing destabilization of eastern Ukraine.

"Russia has a special responsibility in this regard," the NATO deputy secretary general said.

Gottemoeller said she chaired a special meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission on February 8, which addressed the latest facts on the ground. Every single Ally took the floor to express strong support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, she added.