U.S. authorities are seeking to disrupt the Russian humanitarian mission for south-eastern Ukraine, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The United States and Lithuania blocked Russia’s initiative of August 21 to the UN Security Council passing a resolution to support the delivery humanitarian aid to south-eastern Ukraine, the document said.
“If the U.S. went against an absolutely non-confrontational and reconciling text, it leaves no doubt that Washington seeks the continuation of the armed resistance in Ukraine. It cannot be called anything other than the attempt to disrupt the humanitarian mission,” the Foreign Ministry said.
The draft document included such aspects as the UN Security Council welcoming the agreements to deliver the Russian and Ukrainian humanitarian cargo under the aegis of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to south-eastern Ukraine and appeals to all parties to comply with agreements to ensure the complete safety of the humanitarian convoys and to declare a ceasefire for these purposes, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
The document also urged that the immediate distribution of humanitarian aid via the ICRC among civilians affected by battle actions be ensured and expressed hope that international community – including the UN, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Council of Europe, the ICRC and donating countries – will continue to pay attention to the task of easing the difficult humanitarian situation in south-eastern Ukraine, the Foreign Ministry said.
“This constructive initiative by Russia was blocked by the U.S. and Lithuania. In particular, we were asked to exclude appeals to stop combat actions and ensure safe delivery of humanitarian cargo and mention of Russia sending the humanitarian cargo from the text,” the statement said.
“Moreover, its opponents considered it justified to include provisions that the reason of the situation existing in south-eastern Ukraine is in actions of ‘separatists’: something like, there will be no ‘separatists,’ there will be no humanitarian issues in the draft,” the Foreign Ministry said.
Such a policy from the U.S. is two-faced, the statement said.
“The cynical disregard for civilian fates and contemptuous attitude towards international humanitarian law, when it concerns political interests, is becoming the core line of the U.S. and their European satellite at the Ukrainian direction,” the statement said.
“More and more questions are accumulating with regard to the ability of the current U.S. administration to participate in developing realistic and pragmatic approaches to international problems and to adequately assess the situation in different world regions,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
