MOSCOW, August 9 (RIA Novosti) – Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in a telephone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that he was considering dispatching a humanitarian mission to Luhansk, following the results of negotiations with international partners, Poroshenko’s press service reported on Saturday.
“Poroshenko said that following the results of negotiations with the Red Cross President Peter Maurer and other international partners, a possibility of sending a humanitarian mission to Luhansk is currently under consideration,” the statement read.
The Ukrainian president stressed that he was ready to accept humanitarian assistance in case this mission is international, implies no military backup and is transferred solely through the checkpoints, controlled by Ukrainian authorities and escorted by Ukrainian soldiers, ensuring security.
Poroshenko and Merkel also discussed the possibility of Germany’s involvement in the international humanitarian mission. The chancellor stressed that the mission should be dispatched via UN or Red Cross channels and solely by agreement with the Ukrainian side.
On Tuesday, Russia came up with a proposal at the UN Security Council to deploy an international humanitarian mission with Russian humanitarian aid under the auspices of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Ukraine’s troubled eastern regions.
Russian Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin said Moscow is calling on the international community to take urgent measures to render humanitarian assistance to the citizens of Ukraine’s east. In this case, Churkin stressed, Russia was ready for “highest possible transparency.”
Earlier on Saturday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in a phone conversation with his US counterpart John Kerry urged to support Russia’s proposal and take urgent measure to avert a looming humanitarian catastrophe in Ukraine’s east.
