MOSCOW, August 27 (RIA Novosti) — Another convoy carrying Russian humanitarian aid may be sent to eastern Ukraine «very soon," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday.
"Taking into account the scope of the humanitarian disaster and the way it deteriorates, the two presidents discussed at their yesterday’s meeting the possibility of sending another batch of humanitarian cargo very soon," he said, referring to the meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko in Belarus' capital Minsk on Tuesday.
"We are ready to do this tomorrow, but we are not the only party to this process," Peskov added.
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that the second convoy would follow the same route as the first, but should reach the destination faster.
He said Moscow had already sent an official diplomatic note to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, notifying about the plans to prepare another mission.
Following a considerable delay, Russia’s convoy of 280 trucks carrying about 2,000 tons of humanitarian aid, crossed the Ukrainian border and on August 22 reached Luhansk, which is currently on the edge of a humanitarian disaster.
Since mid-April the Ukrainian government has been conducting a military operation in the east of Ukraine attempting to suppress independence supporters, who refused to acknowledge the new government that came to power after the coup that took place in Ukraine on February 22.
The fighting intensified dramatically after Donetsk and Luhansk regions, proclaimed independence in May.
According to the United Nations, more than two thousand people have died as a result of the confrontation, and over 4,950 people have sustained injuries in the fighting.
Moscow has repeatedly condemned the operation and urged for a ceasefire to prevent further casualties.
