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Moscow Surprised by Kiev’s Move to Reject Russian Humanitarian Aid

© RIA Novosti . Alexander Vilf / Go to the mediabankBuilding of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
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Moscow is surprised by Kiev’s rejection of proposed Russian aid to violence-hit eastern Ukraine and hopes that the interim government will reconsider its decision, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Friday.

MOSCOW, May 30 (RIA Novosti) – Moscow is surprised by Kiev’s rejection of proposed Russian aid to violence-hit eastern Ukraine and hopes that the interim government will reconsider its decision, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Friday.

The Russian Foreign Ministry notified Ukraine on Wednesday that it was ready to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to eastern regions. The Ukrainian side was requested to take all measures needed for safe transportation of the Russian humanitarian cargo.

“While fully ignoring the humanitarian assistance issue and the sufferings of people in eastern regions of Ukraine, where people are being killed daily in Kiev’s military operation and the number of injured and affected people is growing, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry cynically talks about the situation in Crimea, which, in the Ukrainian side’s opinion… is allegedly on the verge of a ‘humanitarian disaster,’” the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry said Ukraine’s response to its proposal “raises eyebrows, to say the least.”

“Taking into account Kiev’s continuing military actions against the population of Ukraine’s eastern regions, the need for urgent humanitarian assistance remains acute. Based on the general norms of human morality, we call on the Ukrainian authorities to eventually consider the issue of helping those who are badly in need for it,” the ministry said.

The ministry said despite Kiev’s allegations, the citizens of the Russian Republic of Crimea “have a possibility to live and work in peaceful and stable conditions.”

“By the way, the problems there are mainly linked to the blockade of transport hubs by Ukraine,” the ministry said.

Ukraine has been supplying up to 85 percent of Crimea’s fresh water through the North-Crimean channel that runs from Dnieper River. In April, in response to Crimea’s reunification with Russia, the Ukrainian government made a decision to halt all fresh water supplies to the peninsula citing republic’s unpaid debts for earlier supplies as a reason.

Crimea, previously an autonomous republic within Ukraine, refused to recognize the legitimacy of the government in Kiev, which seized power as a result of a coup in February, instead rejoining Russia after a referendum that saw over 96 percent of voters in the region back the motion to leave Ukraine.

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