Kyiv puts brakes on Russian aid convoy
Just hours after Russia deployed 280 trucks carrying humanitarian aid to eastern Ukraine on Tuesday morning, a spokesperson from Ukraine’s military said the convoy would be denied access at the border because its mission still had not been confirmed by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
The previous day, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had announced the international initiative, which was to be carried out in cooperation with the ICRC. Ukrainian President Poroshenko also confirmed that he had welcomed the assistance from Moscow.
However, Ukraine reacted strongly to the news of the convoy’s departure on Tuesday, underlining that Russia must first fulfill its agreement by allowing the ICRC to verify the convoy’s contents before it could enter Ukrainian territory.
Poroshenko’s deputy chief of staff, Anatoliy Chaly, later said that Kyiv would not allow the Russian trucks into the country at all, underlining fears of a potential covert military operation.
“We will not consider the possibility of any movement of the Russian column on the territory of Ukraine,” said Chaly.
Convoy to arrive this week
The aid column is expected to complete its 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) journey from Moscow to eastern Ukraine within two to three days’ time.
Russia state television showed workers hoisting bags of food and other humanitarian aid into the trucks before their departure. They are said to be carrying 2,000 tons of supplies.
According to the original plan, ICRC representatives were to meet the convoy at the border. Once inside Ukrainian territory, it was then to be escorted by representatives of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
Fighting between separatist rebels and the Ukrainian government has left more than 1,100 people dead, according to the United Nations.
Hundreds of thousands of civilians have
fled the embattled region. Those who have remained behind are believed to be without power, water and medical supplies.
France expresses ‘grave concerns’
French President Francois Hollande also weighed in on the Russian convoy controversy on Tuesday, saying he had “grave concerns” prompted by the “possibility of a unilateral Russian mission on Ukrainian soil,” his office said in a statement.
Earlier in the day, his foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, told France Info Radio, that the West must remain vigilant.
“We must be extremely careful because this could be a cover for the Russians to install themselves near Lugansk and Donetsk and put us before a done deed,” Fabius told France Info radio.
Western leaders and Kyiv have repeatedly urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to halt any actions that could be perceived as an infringement on Ukraine’s sovereignty. However, the West has accused him of continuing to allow pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine access to supplies and military equipment. He also resisted calls to withdraw tens of thousands of troops from along the Russian-Ukrainian border.
According to the Western military alliance NATO, roughly 45,000 Russian soldiers have been deployed to Russia’s southwest,
close to the country’s border with Ukraine.
kms/pfd (AP, AFP, Reuters, dpa)