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US Secretary of State John Kerry is to hold talks in Ukraine, as Washington mulls whether to start sending weapons to help Kiev fight pro-Russian rebels, the BBC reported.

Ashton Carter, the White House's choice for defence secretary, earlier said he was "inclined" to start supplying arms.

The US has so far only provided "non-lethal" assistance to Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Nato is set to unveil what the bloc's chief says are "the biggest reinforcement" of its "collective defence since the end of the Cold War."

At a meeting in Brussels, Nato defence ministers will seek to reassure the alliance's nations in Eastern Europe and to deter a potential Russian threat to the Baltic states or other bloc members should the crisis in Ukraine spin out of control, the BBC's Jonathan Marcus reports.

Mr Kerry Mr Kerry will meet Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk in Ukraine's capital Kiev on Thursday morning. A news conference is expected later in the day.

The issue of weapons deliveries to Ukraine and other US assistance is expected to be one of the main items on the agenda.

Mr Kerry will then travel to Munich to take part in the annual security conference in the southern German city.