Russia seriously concerned about humanitarian catastrophe in Ukraine
MOSCOW, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) — Russia is seriously concerned about the humanitarian catastrophe in eastern Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Saturday.
“With the mounting humanitarian catastrophe, the situation is increasingly disturbing and probably the number one topic for discussion,” he said.
Russia was taking efforts in both bilateral and multilateral formats to alleviate the problem, including organizing relief supplies to eastern Ukraine, he added.
Peskov denied Kyiv’s allegation of Russian troops trying to penetrate into Ukrainian territory under the guise of humanitarian convoy.
“It’s rather hard for us to understand what the Ukrainian side had in mind. There have been no such attempts of the Russian troops,” the Interfax news agency quoted him as saying.
He also said that the recent food import ban is a response to the West’s actions against Moscow, adding that Moscow will ” certainly respond” if new sanctions are announced against Russia.
During an emergency UN Security Council meeting on Tuesday, Russia and the UN called for humanitarian aid corridors to be established in conflict-scarred eastern Ukraine.
However, the Ukrainian envoy disagreed, describing the situation as “manageable” and saying there was “no humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.” He also accused Moscow of continuing the unrest by supporting pro-Russian insurgents.
U.S. Permanent Representative to the UN, Samantha Power, later expressed fear that Russia would use humanitarian assistance as a pretext for invading Ukraine.
Ukrainian Foreign Ministry rejected the Russian initiative in a statement released on Friday, Interfax reported.
The ministry called upon Russia to refrain from any attempts to deliver humanitarian cargoes to Ukraine without the fulfillment of the relevant provisions of international law.
Since fighting flared in mid-April, more than 1,543 people have been killed in eastern Ukraine, according to the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine and the World Health Organization.
The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) estimates that the total number of internally displaced persons in Ukraine stands at over 117,910.