KAMENSK-SHAKHTINSKY, Rostov Region, August 18 (RIA Novosti) – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) plans to seal the Russian trucks carrying humanitarian aid to Ukraine and take them under its jurisdiction only after both Russian and Ukrainian customs services check all the vehicles, a Red Cross representative told RIA Novosti on Monday.
"We are ready to seal the cargo and take it under our jurisdiction only if the Russian and Ukrainian sides finally agree on security guarantees for the passing of the convoy... after [the cargo] gets checked by the Russian and Ukrainian customs," Galina Bazanova said.
The first 16 trucks of Russia’s humanitarian aid convoy arrived at the customs checkpoint at the Ukrainian border on Sunday, with more expected to follow. The head of the ICRC delegation for Russia, Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine, Pascal Cuttat, examined the trucks Sunday and said he was satisfied with its condition, Russia’s Emergencies Ministry said.
The trucks will now be scanned by a special Federal Customs Service detector at the border in order to determine whether they contain any substances aside from humanitarian aid.
In early August, in light of the worsening humanitarian situation in the Ukrainian east, Russia proposed to the UN Security Council to send an international humanitarian mission with Russian humanitarian aid under the auspices of the ICRC to the troubled regions.
On August 12, 280 trucks carrying about 2,000 tons of humanitarian aid, with 400 tons of grain, 100 tons of sugar, 62 tons of baby food, 54 tons of medication, 12,000 sleeping bags and 69 mobile electrical generators set off from the Moscow Region heading toward conflict areas in crisis-torn Ukraine.
