MOSCOW, August 15 (RIA Novosti) - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) representatives would be able to inspect Russia’s humanitarian convoy bound for eastern Ukraine on Friday, said a source familiar with the situation.
“There are intensive consultations with Red Cross representatives on inspection of the humanitarian cargo inside the trucks. It is possible that it could be demonstrated today,” the source said in the early hours of Friday.
Last week, Russia urged the UN Security Council to send a mission with Russian humanitarian aid to eastern Ukraine under the auspices of the ICRC and accompanied by its representatives. The ICRC backed the proposal, and on August 11, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced that Russia had reached an agreement with Kiev and the Red Cross on sending a humanitarian mission to eastern Ukraine, expressing hope that the West will not impede its delivery.
On Tuesday, Russia sent a convoy of 280 trucks carrying some 2,000 metric tons of humanitarian aid to southeastern Ukraine, including medical supplies, food, sleeping bags and other basic necessities. According to the ICRC, the convoy is currently in Russia’s southern Rostov region.
On Wednesday, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said that Ukraine may accept any type of humanitarian aid exclusively within the framework of international law and exclusively from the Red Cross.
At the same time, the country’s Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said that Ukraine would not allow a Russian convoy of humanitarian aid to pass through the eastern Kharkiv Region.
