Updated about 6 hours ago
ABC NEWS
The United States is backing Ukraine's demand for a Russian humanitarian convoy to go through border checks, to clear up concerns that Moscow might be using it to provide support rebels.
The convoy of 280 Russian trucks is heading for Ukraine after an agreement was reached on an international humanitarian relief mission.
The United States and its European allies have been voicing concern for days over the convoy, which the Kremlin insists is desperately needed humanitarian assistance in the conflict zone.
After consultations with Kiev, the United States says it is ready to support the convoy if it goes through customs checks and hands over the aid to the International Committee of the Red Cross for distribution.
"Russia has no right to move into Ukraine unilaterally, whether under the guise of humanitarian convoys or any other pretext, without Kiev's permission," State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf told reporters.
She said Ukrainian officials "have a plan in place that they feel comfortable with. We feel comfortable with it as well. And now the Russians need to deliver".
Russian president Vladimir Putin has said Moscow is sending the aid in response to the "catastrophic consequences" of Kiev's campaign against pro-Russian insurgents.
The United States rejected such views, with Ms Harf saying the humanitarian situation in eastern Ukraine is "a direct result of Russia's intervention".
Russia says the convoy is carrying food, water and other aid, but the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) - which is due to coordinate the operation - says it has no information on what the trucks are carrying or where they are going.
"This cargo will be reloaded onto other transport vehicles [at the border] by the Red Cross," Ukrainian presidential aide Valery Chaly said.
"We will not allow any escort by the emergencies ministry of Russia or by the military [onto Ukrainian territory]. Everything will be under the control of the Ukrainian side."
Russian media said the trucks had left from near Moscow and would take a couple of days to make the 1,000-kilometre journey to Ukraine's eastern regions.
Rossiya 24 TV showed a three-kilometre long line of containers and trucks loaded with crates of water stretched along a road with workers loading sacks of aid.
A Russian Orthodox priest marched across a line of trucks, spraying them with holy water before they left.
"It has all been agreed with Ukraine," Business FM radio quoted Mr Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, as saying of the operation, which has been publicised with fanfare on Russian TV channels.
The US, French and Australian governments have voiced concern that Russia, the sole international supporter of rebels in Ukraine's Russian-speaking east, could use the humanitarian deliveries to carry out a covert operation to help fighters who appear to be on the verge of defeat.
With Ukraine reporting Russia has massed 45,000 troops on its border, NATO said on Monday there was a "high probability" Moscow might now intervene militarily in Ukraine.
Western countries believe that Russian president Vladimir Putin might be spurred to fresh action since separatists in their main redoubt of Donetsk are now encircled by Kiev government forces.
Trucks carrying 2,000 tonnes of food, water, supplies: reports
Itar-Tass news agency said the convoy was carrying 2,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid, including 400 tonnes of cereals, 100 tonnes of sugar, 62 tonnes of baby food, 54 tonnes of medical equipment and medicine, 12,000 sleeping bags and 69 generators of various sizes.
Thousands of people are believed to be short of water, electricity and medical aid in Donetsk and in the border town of Lugansk due to bitter fighting, involving air strikes and missile attacks.
UN agencies say well over 1,000 people - including government forces, rebels and civilians - have been killed in the conflict.
Kiev and its Western allies say Russia, which opposes the new leadership's pro-Western policies, has been funnelling tanks, missiles and other heavy weapons to the rebels for months. Moscow denies this.
Any intervention by Russia into Ukraine under the guise of an humanitarian crisis would be seen for the transparent artifice that it is.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop
Suspicious of Russian intentions, Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko has said Ukraine will allow Russian aid into the country only as part of an international relief mission, under the auspices of the ICRC and involving the US, European Union and other states.
In Geneva, an ICRC spokesperson said: "We still need clarification, details on the content [of the convoy] and type of transportation and storage needed."
With the humanitarian crisis growing by the day in eastern Ukraine, the Kremlin might welcome the opportunity to garner sympathy if the Russian convoy arrives at the border and is turned away by the Ukrainians.
Former Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma, who has been involved in tentative mediation with the rebels, says the convoy will travel down through north-eastern Ukraine to Lugansk under an Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) escort.
Earlier, in Sydney, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told reporters: "Any intervention by Russia into Ukraine under the guise of an humanitarian crisis would be seen for the transparent artifice that it is and Australia would condemn [it] in the strongest possible terms."
US secretary of state John Kerry echoed Ms Bishop's comments.
"Our hope is that in the next days and weeks, we can find a way for [Mr Poroshenko] and Ukraine to be able to work with the Russians to provide the humanitarian assistance necessary in the east," he said.
Polish foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski says the possibility of Russia's military invading eastern Ukraine has receded.
"Today we are in a slightly better situation than a few days ago, when it seemed that there was a threat of forcing through a convoy, with an armed escort, onto Ukrainian territory," he told Polish television.
"Today we have to acknowledge that the Russian authorities have undertaken a dialogue with the Ukrainian authorities and the International Committee of the Red Cross."
ABC/wires
***
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
13082014
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
No comments:
Post a Comment