MOSCOW, August 21 (RIA Novosti) — Moscow calls on the UN Security Council to make a statement about the need of a ceasefire in Ukraine during the delivery of Russian humanitarian aid, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Thursday.
“We call on all parties to the conflict to announce a ceasefire while this campaign is under way, and suggest that the UN Security Council adopts a statement on the issue,” the ministry said in a statement.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said this week that it was awaiting a formal security guarantee for employees escorting the convoy of humanitarian aid. In return, the Deputy Prime Minister of Donetsk People’s Republic Andrei Purgin guaranteed the security of the Red Cross staff.
Earlier today, spokesman for the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Andriy Lysenko said that the ceasefire is possible in eastern Ukraine, but it should be based on Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko’s peace plan.
The ICRC has repeatedly stated that security guarantees were the absolute prerequisite for the delivery of humanitarian aid. Earlier this week, ICRC President Peter Maurer discussed the situation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and said that Russia and southeastern Ukraine independence supporters have fulfilled their duty concerning the safety of the humanitarian convoy, while "the Ukrainian side failed to provide the required guarantees for the convoy’s safe passage and subsequent aid distribution," according to a Russian Foreign Ministry statement.
Since mid-April, Ukrainian authorities have been conducting a special military operation against independence supporters in eastern regions of the country. The fighting involved armored vehicles, heavy artillery and attack aviation and claimed hundreds civilian lives.
