BOCHAROV RUCHEI, August 11 (RIA Novosti) – Humanitarian aid to war-torn southeastern Ukraine will be rendered immediately after all conditions are settled, the Russian president’s spokesman said Monday.
“As soon as we agree and if we agree on all conditions and nuances, then, naturally, the aid will follow immediately, because the tragic humanitarian situation in the region requires an immediate response,” Dmitry Peskov said.
At the UN Security Council last Tuesday, Russia offered 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.
Soon after that, Kiev said it would manage on its own and denied there was a humanitarian crisis in the country. Late Friday, the International Committee of the Red Cross welcomed Russia’s proposal.
A number of Western countries, such as the United States, Canada, Britain and Germany argued that Russian humanitarian aid should only be delivered to Ukraine after Moscow secured Kiev’s consent, otherwise it would be “unjustified and illegal.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry repeatedly stressed the necessity of urgent measures to avert a looming humanitarian catastrophe in Ukraine’s southeastern regions and urged its Western partners to support its humanitarian mission.
