Russia says sending non-military aid convoy to Ukraine

Western countries suspect Moscow might use the aid mission to send in troops.

Pregnant women sit inside a bomb shelter in a hospital during shelling in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, on August 10, 2014. AFP Photo

MOSCOW // Russia said Monday it was sending a civilian aid convoy to eastern Ukraine in cooperation with the Red Cross, despite Western fears the mission might be used as cover for intervention.

Kiev said an aid mission was planned but that Western nations would be involved and Russia was not acting alone.

“The Russian side is sending a humanitarian convoy to Ukraine in cooperation with representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross,” president Vladimir Putin told European Commission head José Manuel Barroso on the phone, the Kremlin said in a statement.

Mr Putin told Mr Barroso of the need for an immediate humanitarian mission, citing the “catastrophic consequences of the military operation led by Kiev authorities” in eastern Ukraine, the statement said.

Russia has pushed for a humanitarian ceasefire in eastern Ukraine as Kiev’s forces have encircled large rebel-held cities in the region, but Western countries suspect that Moscow will use an aid mission as cover for sending in troops it has reportedly massed at the border.

Mr Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov insisted the military would not be involved in Russia’s convoy.

“There won’t be a military escort,” Mr Peskov said, adding that the mission has been “agreed with Kiev”.

He said he could provide no further details about the convoy or when it might cross into Ukraine.

Ukraine said both Russia and Western countries could take part in the aid mission.

Ukraine said that president Petro Poroshenko had spoken to US president Barack Obama and won backing “for an international humanitarian mission to Lugansk under the auspices of the International Committee of the Red Cross with the participation of the EU, Russia, Germany and other partners.”

“Barack Obama confirmed the intention of the US to play an active role in the international humanitarian mission,” a statement from the Ukrainian president said.

Mr Barroso had earlier warned Mr Putin against any unilateral intervention in Ukraine, including for humanitarian reasons.

“Speaking with president Putin, president Barroso said that the EU would join in international efforts to assist people in need as a result of the conflict,” a commission statement said.

“President Barroso warned against any unilateral military actions in Ukraine, under any pretext, including humanitarian,” it added.

Over the weekend, Mr Obama, Britain’s prime minister David Cameron and Germany’s Angela Merkel made it clear they would not brook any attempt by Russia to use humanitarian excuses to sneak troops and military equipment into the conflict-torn east of Ukraine.

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday that an agreement had been reached with Kiev on the convoy and that he hoped Western countries would not “interfere”.

More than 1,300 people have been killed and more than 285,000 forced to flee their homes during four months of fierce fighting in eastern Ukraine.

* Agence France-Presse