Ukraine begins inspection of Russian aid convoy

Moscow said it was fully prepared to carry out all necessary procedures and hand over the goods to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

AP news agency quoted Ukrainian officials as saying that customs and representatives of the country's border agency today (August 15) began inspecting a Russian convoy of aid trucks parked at the border between the two countries.

Russian aid convoy is parked in an area 28km from the Ukrainian border (Photo: AP)

This is considered a sign that the two countries have taken steps to ease disagreements related to the above aid shipment.

Sergei Astakhov, a head of Ukraine's border service, said that the goods on Russian trucks will be checked in the presence of representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Ukrainian defense officials in Kiev also officially confirmed that a group of 41 representatives of the Ukrainian border service and 18 customs officers had just begun checking a shipment of Russian aid parked at the border between the two countries in Donetsk.

Meanwhile, Russian media said Moscow has carefully prepared to carry out all necessary procedures and hand over the goods to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

About 200 trucks carrying Russian aid have gathered near Kamensk-Shakhtinsky, about 28km from the Ukrainian border. So far, much of the border area in eastern Ukraine is under the control of opposition forces.

By sending a convoy of aid to the south, Russia has failed to follow a previously agreed deal to deliver aid to a Ukrainian government-controlled border crossing in the Kharkiv region.

Previously, while Moscow always affirmed that the aid convoy only transported goods, baby food, canned meats, generators, and portable sleeping bags, Ukraine said that this move could be an excuse for establishing a permanent Russian presence in its territory.

Ukraine has threatened to use all necessary means to stop the convoy if Ukrainian authorities and the International Committee of the Red Cross are not allowed to inspect the goods./.

According to VOV