MOSCOW, August 25 (RIA Novosti) – Russia has called on the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Ukrainian authorities to help in continuing the humanitarian mission in Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday.
“We call on our Ukrainian colleagues and the International Red Cross to actively cooperate in the continuation of this humanitarian mission. In our turn, we are ready to continue using our contacts with the [eastern Ukrainian] militia so that they give guarantees of safety and not just for the Russian convoy, but for all humanitarian cargoes that the Ukrainian side may continue sending on their own behalf to southeastern Ukraine,” Lavrov said during a briefing.
As the humanitarian situation in the region worsened, Russia moved to send a humanitarian convoy under the auspices of the Red Cross to eastern Ukraine in early August. The convoy comprised 227 trucks carrying about 2,000 tons of humanitarian aid, including baby food, medicine, grain, sugar, sleeping bags, generators and other essentials.
Despite the initial decision to help deliver Russian humanitarian aid to the war-torn regions, the Red Cross then refused to participate in the humanitarian mission due to security concerns.
Soon after that the organization said, however, that it was ready to continue cooperation with the Russian Foreign Ministry, including on the issues related to humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.
On August 23, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said that Moscow welcomed ICRC decision to continue humanitarian aid mission in eastern Ukraine, including the participation of the organization in distribution of aid to the neediest.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said the ICRC “proved to be a responsible partner.”
