Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has urged Russia to bring the situation with the humanitarian convoy for eastern Ukraine back within the framework of international law, Poroshenko's press office said.
According to information from the presidential press office, Poroshenko said during a meeting with Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius that Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin and presidential administration head Boris Lozhkin had got in touch with their Russian colleagues and “conveyed our concern and proposed that the situation be brought back to the international law field.”
The Ukrainian president is concerned about the situation with the Russian convoy, which entered Ukraine, the press office said in a statement. “We will do everything possible so that this does not lead to graver consequences,” Poroshenko said at a meeting with the Lithuanian minister.
Representatives of the Ukrainian customs and border services were sent to Russia’s Donetsk checkpoint with the order to allow vehicles of the Russian humanitarian convoy under the aegis of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and accompanied by it, Poroshenko said. These agreements were violated on Friday, “Russia has decided to ignore them and unilaterally refused the Red Cross participation,” he said.
According to information from the presidential press office, Ukraine has implemented all obligations taken and 35 Russian vehicles were processed under customs regulations. “According to the president, the only factor which prevented the Red Cross from carrying out the humanitarian mission was strikes by militia on roads which the convoy was to take going to Luhansk,” the statement said.
“The convoy of over 100 trucks entered Ukraine without customs inspection, border proceedings and Red Cross escort, which is an outrageous violation of the international law,” Poroshenko’s press office said.
