The Foreign Ministry of Ukraine on Saturday sent a response note to the Russian Foreign Ministry pointing at the impossibility of accepting 'humanitarian aid,' taking into account the indefiniteness of its end addressee.
The department of the information policy of the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine reported that on June 27, 2014, the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine received a note from the Foreign Ministry of Russia with information that Russian plans to send ‘humanitarian aid’ to Donetsk and Luhansk regions and maybe other regions where displaced persons are staying.
The Foreign Ministry of Ukraine paid attention of Russia to clause 6 of Chapter II of the 1959 Statute of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and clause 2 of section A of Article 1 of the 1951 Refugee Convention, according to which refugees are any person who, as a result of events occurring before 1 January 1951 and owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear or for reasons other than personal convenience, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country.
“Taking into account the fact that Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as well as Autonomous Republic of Crimea, are integral part of Ukraine, under the above-mentioned international documents Ukrainian citizens who are staying on this territory cannot have a status of refugees,” the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine said.
The Foreign Ministry of Ukraine noted that the important step that Russia could make and that could help settling the situation in the eastern parts of Ukraine would be the practical support of the implementation of the peaceful plan of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and the observation of the conditions in the conclusions of the European Council on Ukraine of June 27, 2014.
As reported, the Russian Foreign Ministry on Friday sent a note to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry regarding the provision of humanitarian aid to eastern regions of Ukraine.
“The note says that, in light of numerous appeals from Donetsk and Luhansk residents on providing them with urgent humanitarian aid, Russia has prepared an Emergency Situations Ministry automobile convoy to deliver a humanitarian cargo weighing in total 60 tonnes and including food and personal hygiene products to the said regions,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
The trucks are supposed to leave on June 28 for Luhansk, Donetsk and possibly other regions of Ukraine where there are refugees, it said.
