A convoy of 280 Russian trucks reportedly packed with aid headed for eastern Ukraine yesterday, but Kiev said it would only allow the goods through under the close supervision of the international Red Cross.
A Ukrainian security spokesman said the convoy was being managed by the Russian army and so could not be allowed into the country.
The humanitarian crisis provoked by fighting between government troops and pro-Russian separatists has reached a critical point in recent days and heightened the urgent need for intervention.
Yet Ukraine and the West have voiced concerns that Russia could be using the aid initiative as a cover for sending troops into separatist-held territory.
“This convoy is not a certified convoy. It is not certified by the International Committee of the Red Cross [ICRC],” said Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council.
Kiev says it is willing for trucks from Russia to unload their contents at a government-held border crossing border and for the aid to be transferred by the ICRC.
Valeriy Chaly, deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential administration, said any attempt to take aid into Ukraine without authorization would be seen as an attack.
Alexander Drobyshevsky, a spokesman for the Russian Ministry of Emergency conducting the mission, said the ministry had “not yet defined” where the trucks would cross. He said it could take several days for them to reach Ukraine.
Ukraine has stressed that the effort to alleviate the conflict-wracked Luhansk Province should be an international undertaking, saying that Russia’s involvement is required to ensure cooperation from rebels.
Russian media reported that 2,000 tonnes of aid was en route to Ukraine. Pro-Kremlin channel NTV showed hundreds of white trucks at a depot outside Moscow, reporting that they were carrying everything from baby food to sleeping bags.
Yet Lysenko said suspicions were raised by the military provenance of the trucks. In a briefing, he showed a covertly filmed video appearing to show vehicles similar to the white trucks at a military base in Russia. One frame shows troops lined up in front of a truck.
In Luhansk city, authorities yesterday said the 250,000 residents remaining had had no electricity or water supplies for 10 days.
“Luhansk is under a de facto blockade: The city continues to be destroyed, and the delivery of foodstuffs, medicine and fuel has been interrupted,” the city council said.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
UNWAVERING: Paraguay remains steadfast in its support of Taiwan, but is facing growing pressure at home and abroad to switch recognition to Beijing, Pena said Paraguayan President Santiago Pena has pledged to continue enhancing cooperation with Taiwan, as he and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida expressed opposition to any unilateral change to the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait using force, Japanese media reported on Saturday. Kishida yesterday completed a trip to France, Brazil and Paraguay, his first visit to South America since taking office in 2021. After the Japanese leader and Pena spoke for more than an hour on Friday, exchanging views on the situation in East Asia in the face of China’s increasing military pressure on Taiwan, they affirmed that “unilateral attempts to change the