MOSCOW, August 25 (RIA Novosti) - Russia informed Ukraine of its plans to send an additional humanitarian convoy along the same route that had been used previously within the next few days, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday.
“We sent an official diplomatic note to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry yesterday with information of our plans to prepare another convoy with humanitarian cargo and included a detailed list of items and quantity of these cargoes that are planned to be sent, and we expressed our hope for honest cooperation with the Ukrainian authorities in agreeing all of the necessary formalities,” Lavrov said during a briefing.
In April, Kiev’s authorities have launched a special military operation against the independence supporters in eastern Ukraine.
Over 2,000 people have been killed and more than 5,000 injured since the operation started.
Heavy clashes and shelling by the Ukrainian army have led to the humanitarian crisis in the area, water and power shortages.
This month, Russia has sent a humanitarian convoy under the auspices of the Red Cross to eastern Ukraine. The convoy comprised 227 trucks carrying about 2,000 tons of humanitarian aid that included baby food, medicine, grain, sugar, sleeping bags, generators and other essentials.
Kiev later lashed out at Moscow, accusing it of allegedly ordering its humanitarian aid convoy across the border without permission from the Ukrainian government, and said it was a violation of the country’s sovereignty.
The convoy arrived at the Russian-Ukrainian border on August 14 but entered Ukraine a week later, as Kiev had been postponing its final approval for the trucks to go ahead.
However, Russia’s ambassador to UN, Vitaly Churkin confirmed that the permission for the passage of the humanitarian convoy through the Ukrainian border was granted to Moscow by the Kiev government back on August 12.
Last week, several dozens of trucks finally reached the destination and unloaded. All trucks arrived back to Russia by Saturday.
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