Humanitarian aid to the Ukrainian population in the east of Ukraine should be delivered by neutral international organizations rather than by Russia, Ambassador Samantha Power, U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, said at a UN Security Council meeting on the human rights situation in Ukraine's east on Aug. 8.
Power said if Moscow wants to send aid to the population, it should be delivered by neutral international organizations including the International Committee of the Red Cross.
“International organizations must address humanitarian needs, not those who caused them,” she said.
“Therefore any further unilateral intervention by Russia into Ukrainian territory, including one under the guise of providing humanitarian aid, would be completely unacceptable and deeply alarming — and it would be viewed as an invasion of Ukraine,” Power warned.
Power said that Ukraine effectively cooperates with international humanitarian organizations.
She also said that Russia hadn’t stopped supporting militants in Donbas and was continuing arms shipments.
Russia claims that it is striving for peace, but in practice it supports armed separatists, and the support has increased recently: infantry combat vehicles, MANPADS, artillery and tanks still arrive in Ukraine from Russia. Russia is beefing up its military on the border, which threatens the sovereignty of Ukraine, she said.
Power says that the United States is shocked by the fact that Russia has doubled its support of militants after the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in Ukraine’s east on July 17. “We condemn this. This is yet another insult to the memory of the victims and their families,” she said.
