MOSCOW, August 11 (RIA Novosti) – EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso cautioned Russia on Monday against using humanitarian grounds as a pretext for military actions in eastern Ukraine, according to a statement.
The message on the EU Commission’s website said the union’s executive body “warned against any unilateral military actions in Ukraine, under any pretext, including humanitarian.”
Barroso also had a telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to discuss the emergency situation in Luhansk, it added.
This came after Moscow and Kiev said in a statement earlier they had agreed to a Red Cross-led humanitarian mission to the war-torn Ukrainian region of Luhansk, where food and energy supplies are running short.
Russia initially came up with a proposal to dispatch an international humanitarian mission to the region last Tuesday at the UN Security Council. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday also called on the West not to impede the delivery of urgent humanitarian aid to eastern Ukrainian regions, which, as he earlier stated, are under threat of a humanitarian catastrophe.
Late on Monday, US President Barack Obama and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said they objected to Russia’s interference into the conflict in Ukraine, referring to the proposed humanitarian convoy, and warned they would force further sanctions on Moscow if it acted without Kiev’s prior consent.
The leaders “reiterated that any intervention under the guise of ‘humanitarian’ assistance must be provided only with the formal, express consent and authorization of the government of Ukraine,” the White House said.
They agreed that “any Russian steps not in accordance with these requirements would be unacceptable, would violate international law, and would lead to additional sanctions,” the message continued.
