Russia's humanitarian aid to cross into Ukraine in batches

Russian humanitarian aid trucks will cross the Ukrainian border in small batches of several dozen vehicles and only after a thorough examination by border guards, Kiev says, following an official acknowledgment of 280 trucks carrying crisis-relief cargo.

“The cargo, in agreement with the mission of the Red Cross, will be delivered to the international crossing point of Izvarino-Donetsk in batches of up to 30 vehicles,” the head of the Ukrainian State Fiscal Service Anatoliy Makarenko was quoted as saying by LB.ua.

After clearing customs, the aid trucks will be transferred “only to official representatives of the Red Cross,”Makarenko added.

The Red Cross is expected to arrive at the border crossing on Monday to perform the necessary procedures.

Currently, only 16 trucks from the humanitarian convoy are at the “Donetsk” border checkpoint on the Russian side, awaiting inspection, while the rest are still parked at a local depot in order to avoid jamming the border crossing.

In total, Russia moved over 270 trucks with almost 1,800 tons of medical supplies, food, including baby food, sleeping bags and other basic necessities towards Ukraine’s border last Tuesday. But the cargo still has not reached the residents of the regions badly hit by the conflict, even after Kiev recognized the Russian convoy as humanitarian aid cargo of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Meanwhile, the German foreign minister stated that he supports the sending of Russian humanitarian aid to the region and hoped that during the talks “the final difficulties could be cleared.”

“It would be nice if this [Russian] cargo could be delivered to where it is urgently need - in the Lugansk and Donetsk regions, as well as in other cities of Ukraine,” he said, as the foreign ministers of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France met in Berlin for a second round of talks in search of a political solution to the Ukrainian crisis.

Lorries part of a Russian humanitarian convoy approach a checkpoint at the Ukrainian border some 30 km outside the town of Kamensk-Shakhtinsky in the Rostov region, on August 17, 2014. (AFP Photo/Dmitry Serebryakov)

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Saturday it was ready to take the aid shipment under its jurisdiction.

“All the parties involved should come to an agreement about conditions for the convoy to cross the territory of Ukraine, and ICRC staff should be guaranteed security as the Red Cross does not have its [own] armed guard,” ICRC’s spokeswoman Galina Balzamova told reporters.

Comments

Why States Still Use Barrel Bombs

Smoke ascends after a Syrian military helicopter allegedly dropped a barrel bomb over the city of Daraya on Jan. 31.(FADI DIRANI/AFP/Getty Images) Summary Barrel bombs are not especially effective weapons. They are often poorly constructed; they fail to detonate more often than other devices constructed for a similar purpose; and their lack of precision means they can have a disproportionate effect on civilian populations. However, combatants continue to use barrel bombs in conflicts, including in recent and ongoing conflicts in Africa and the Middle East, and they are ideally suited to the requirements of resource-poor states. Analysis Barrel bombs are improvised devices that contain explosive filling and shrapnel packed into a container, often in a cylindrical shape such as a barrel. The devices continue to be dropped on towns all over Syria . Indeed, there have been several documented cases of their use in Iraq over the past months, and residents of the city of Mosul, which was re...

Russia Looks East for New Oil Markets

Click to Enlarge In the final years of the Soviet Union, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev began orienting his foreign policy toward Asia in response to a rising Japan. Putin has also piloted a much-touted pivot to Asia, coinciding with renewed U.S. interest in the area. A good expression of intent was Russia's hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in 2012 in Vladivostok, near Russia's borders with China and North Korea. Although its efforts in Asia have been limited by more direct interests in Russia's periphery and in Europe, Moscow recently has been able to look more to the east. Part of this renewed interest involves finding new export markets for Russian hydrocarbons. Russia's economy relies on energy exports, particularly crude oil and natural gas exported via pipeline to the West. However, Western Europe is diversifying its energy sources as new supplies come online out of a desire to reduce its dependence on Russian energy supplies . This has ...

LONDON POLICE INDIRECTLY ENCOURAGE CRIMINALS TO ATTACK RUSSIAN DIPLOMATIC PROPERTY

ILLUSTRATIVE IMAGE A few days ago an unknown perpetrator trespassed on the territory of the Russian Trade Delegation in London, causing damage to the property and the vehicles belonging to the trade delegation , Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said during the September 12 press briefing. The diplomat revealed the response by the London police was discouraging. Police told that the case does not have any prospects and is likely to be closed. This was made despite the fact that the British law enforcement was provided with video surveillance tapes and detailed information shedding light on the incident. By this byehavior, British law inforcements indirectly encourage criminals to continue attacks on Russian diplomatic property in the UK. Zakharova’s statement on “Trespassing on the Russian Trade Mission premises in London” ( source ): During our briefings, we have repeatedly discussed compliance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, sp...

ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Search This Blog