Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko plans a referendum on whether Ukraine should join the NATO alliance, with polls showing 54 percent of Ukrainians now favor such a move, Germany's Funke Mediengruppe newspaper chain reported Thursday.

Ukraine and NATO accuse Russia of providing troops and weapons to support separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine in a conflict that seen 10,000 people killed since April 2014. Moscow denies the charges.

"Four years ago, only 16 percent (of the Ukrainian people) favored Ukraine's entry into NATO. Now it's 54 percent," the media group quoted Poroshenko as saying in an interview. "As president, I am guided by the views of my people, and I will hold a referendum on the issue of NATO membership."