"Ukraine demands rebel forces surrender" by Yuras Karmanau | Associated Press August 11, 2014
DONETSK, Ukraine — Fighting raged in the city of Donetsk on Sunday, as government forces continued to close in on the rebel stronghold and pro-Russia insurgents backed away from an unconditional cease-fire offer that they announced the day before.
With a string of military successes and broad support for its campaign from the West and most of its domestic base, Kiev has taken a hard line against the rebel forces and promised it will only relent when the separatists surrender. Donetsk remained a ghost town on Sunday, with few civilians daring to venture outside as explosions rang out every few minutes and burnt-out buses and buildings smoldered from the night before.
In a statement Saturday, newly elected rebel leader Aleksandr Zakharchenko appeared to call for a cease-fire without stating any preconditions. But on Sunday, rebel spokeswoman Elena Nikitina repeated the rebels’ earlier stance, telling the Associated Press that talks on the conflict could only begin if the Ukrainian army withdrew from the region — something Kiev is unlikely to do. She also denounced the government as ‘‘incapable of negotiating.’’
Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council spokesman, Andriy Lysenko, said the only way for the rebels in Donetsk to save their lives would be to ‘‘lay down their arms and give up.’’ He said the Ukrainian side hadn’t seen the rebels show any real willingness to cooperate.
‘‘If white flags come up and they lay down their arms, nobody is going to shoot at them,’’ he said. ‘‘[But] we have not seen any practical steps yet, just a statement.’’
Lysenko added that the Ukrainian military’s recent successes in encircling Donetsk had bred ‘‘panic and chaos in the ranks of the rebels,’’ and said the Kiev government had information about rebels ‘‘deserting their posts en masse.’’
Always glad to know we are winning.
Conditions were clearly deteriorating in Donetsk, the largest rebel stronghold in eastern Ukraine. Associated Press reporters heard 25 loud explosions in as many minutes around noon. According to City Council spokesman Maxim Rovinsky, at least one person was killed and 10 injured in shelling overnight, as more than 10 residential buildings, a hospital, and a shop were heavily damaged in the fighting.
Rovinsky said that he believed 100,000 people had left the city of 1 million in the past week alone — adding to the 300,000 who were estimated to have fled. He said that at least 10,000 people were without electricity and that the local government was working hard to preserve access to gas, electricity, and phone service and ‘‘avoid a humanitarian crisis.’’ More than 1,300 people have died in the conflict since April, according to a UN estimate.
‘‘It’s impossible to live in this city; I’ve been sleeping in the basement for the past week,’’ said Inna Drobyshevskaya, a 48-year-old lawyer in Donetsk.
‘‘We don’t want Novorossiya [New Russia] for this price,’’ she added, referring to a term used by rebels to describe the parts of eastern Ukraine seeking independence from the government in Kiev.
Rebel leader Zakharchenko’s apparent call for a cease-fire Saturday was met with support from Russia, where Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was quoted by news agency ITAR TASS as saying a truce was ‘‘not only possible, but necessary.’’
‘‘We believe the question is urgent and there can be no delay, and the issue is under the control of the Russian president,’’ he said. Lavrov said that Russia was reaching out to the Red Cross and the United Nations to discuss the possibility of delivering humanitarian aid to the region.
Master stroke.
However, the rebels’ request was met warily by government officials in Kiev and in the West. Those leaders expressed concern that the move could be aimed at increasing international pressure on Ukraine to allow in a Russian aid mission. The West says that could be used as a pretext to bring Russian soldiers into Ukraine — and says 20,000 of them are massed near the Russian border with Ukraine.
Like what the West is doing in Iraq and everywhere else they wage war? The stinking stench of hypocrisy combined with a dose of propaganda pre$$ distortion is enough to water the eyes.
President Petro Poroshenko and Western leaders have repeatedly accused Russia of providing arms and expertise to the rebels, something Russia denies.
--more--"
And just like Israel, they get what they want.
"Ukraine OKs Red Cross-led aid mission to east" by Yuras Karmanau and Peter Leonard | Associated Press August 12, 2014
DONETSK, Ukraine — Ukrainian forces on Monday zeroed in on rebel strongholds as the government welcomed an international humanitarian relief mission into the rebellious east involving Russia, the United States, and the European Union.
I'm getting dizzy from the spin.
The mission will be conducted under the auspices of the International Committee of the Red Cross. The organization said in a statement it is ready to facilitate the operation with the involvement of all sides concerned following a Russian initiative to provide humanitarian assistance to people in eastern Ukraine.
It wasn’t clear when the deliveries would start.
‘‘The practical details of this operation need to be clarified before this initiative can move forward,’’ said Laurent Corbaz, the ICRC’s head of operations for Europe and Central Asia.
Moscow had long urged Kiev to allow the aid delivery, but Ukraine and the West previously had opposed the move, fearing it could serve as a pretext for sending Russian troops into rebel-held territory. Ukraine and the West have accused Moscow of arming and supporting the rebels fighting government troops in the east, a charge that the Kremlin has denied.
The Red Cross said it has shared a document with Ukrainian and Russian authorities that stipulates all parties must guarantee the security of its staff during the operation and respect the organization’s neutrality.
So one Red Cross gets killed, it's pro-rebel Russia's fault, and awaaaaaaay we go!
The aid mission was announced after a conversation between President Obama and President Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine Monday.
The heroes of our age.
The White House said that Obama and Poroshenko agreed that ‘‘any Russian intervention in Ukraine without the formal, express consent and authorization of the Ukraine government would be unacceptable and a violation of international law.’’
Yeah, and.... ? The irony of the greatest law-breaking regime in history waving international law in other faces (exception Israel) can't not be properly prosed.
Shortly before that, Russia had declared that it was dispatching a humanitarian convoy into Ukraine in cooperation with the Red Cross without giving any details. President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, later was quoted by Russian news wires as saying that the convoy wouldn’t involve military personnel.
Officials in Kiev took pains to specify Monday that the Ukrainian government was behind the humanitarian convoy initiative and that Moscow was only one of several countries involved.
‘‘Apart from deliveries provided by Ukraine, the mission will feature an international component, including aid provided to the International Committee of the Red Cross by the United States, the EU, as well as Russia,’’ Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said.
The ministry also laid out specific conditions for the aid shipment, saying it should only pass through checkpoints controlled by the Ukrainian government. At least 60 miles of the long Russian-Ukrainian border is currently in rebel hands.
So how much is the junta going to steal?
It said that the aid will be distributed by the Ukrainian authorities in the Luhansk region, one of the two mostly Russian-speaking rebel provinces.
Some of the heaviest impact on civilians has been seen in the rebel-held provincial capital Luhansk, which had a pre-war population of 420,000. City authorities said Monday the 250,000 residents remaining have had no electricity or water supplies for nine days.
At least ISIS is letting the dams run.
Several Western diplomats and military officials said they were wary of Russia’s intentions. The secretary-general of NATO said there was a “high probability” of a Russian attack and Ukraine raised its estimate of Russian troop strength on the border.
These guys make me f***ing sick. Asshole NATO.
NATO has said in the past that Russia had amassed about 20,000 troops along the border, enough to begin a ground invasion. But on Monday, a Ukrainian military spokesman, Andriy Lysenko, said the numbers had risen alarmingly, to around 45,000 troops. Those figures could not be independently verified.
Oh, lied to again and no mention of the military drills and exercises Russia was conducting that have since ended?
In the last week, Ukrainian government forces have been closing on the few remaining rebel strongholds, including Donetsk, the largest rebel-held city.
--more--"
Looks like the war is over, doesn't it? We won -- again!
:-)
Now to make another foray deeper into Russia:
"Putin meets with Armenia, Azerbaijan heads" Associated Press August 11, 2014
MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin held a joint meeting Sunday with the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia, as concerns mount over the escalation of fighting over the South Caucasus region Nagorno-Karabakh.
Oooooh! That's the area of WWIII prophecy stuff!
Putin met with Presidents Serge Sarkisian of Armenia and Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan in Sochi to discuss rising tensions in the disputed territory. Nagorno-Karabakh is part of Azerbaijan but it and some surrounding territory have been under the control of Armenian soldiers and local Armenian forces since a 1994 cease-fire ended a separatist war. Since then, there have been sporadic clashes, but tensions have risen sharply in the past week as 19 soldiers were killed, 13 of them Azeri.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told news agencies that the meeting had been beneficial and both sides had committed to continuing talks, but admitted that ‘‘the devil is in the details, and the most complicated questions are still unsolved.’’
Years of diplomatic efforts under the auspices of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe have made little visible progress in resolving the dispute. In their opening remarks, both leaders criticized the other side for failing to live up to its international obligations in the conflict.
--more--"
Related: Cornering Putin could backfire
Because he plays chess while the U.S. is trying to raise him and bluff at poker.
"Report: Steven Seagal performed in Crimea
The Russian news agency RIA Novosti says American actor and musician Steven Seagal has performed at a concert in the breakaway region of Crimea on a stage decorated with the flag of pro-Russian separatists fighting in eastern Ukraine. Seagal, who knows Russian President Vladimir Putin, performed with his blues band Saturday night in the Black Sea port city of Sevastopol at a concert organized by a motorcycle gang of Russian nationalists known as the Night Wolves. Russia annexed the Ukrainian region in March. RIA Novosti reported that Seagal was then handed a shirt with Putin’s face on it, which he held aloft as he thanked the crowd. (AP)
Seagal has never been a favorite of Hollywood because of his cutting-edge movies, and given the way those artists who have spoken up for Gazans are being treated by the Zionist media machine known as Hollywood, the above doesn't help.
Night Wolves must be the Russian version of Hell's Angels.
Another Hollywood thorn:
On the next ‘Mad Max’
‘‘Mad Max’’ director George Miller was ‘‘heartbroken’’ over Mel Gibson’s string of scandals in recent years, and said plans for a new trilogy prompted him to pick a younger actor for revisiting the post-apocalyptic auto action franchise. Miller had originally hoped to bring Gibson back for a fourth film in the role of Max Rockatansky. But a series of delays led to recasting, with Tom Hardy, 36, stepping into the road warrior’s boots. Miller describes ‘‘Mad Max: Fury Road’’ as an extended chase taking place over three days. (AP)"
You already know what I think of Mel, and why I am not going to the cinema these days.
Another Russian nutty:
"Kirsan N. Ilyumzhinov, 52, a native of Kalmykia, a poor Russian republic on the Caspian Sea, has led the chess federation since 1995, but not without controversy. He cultivated friendships with Saddam Hussein, Moammar Khadafy, and Bashar Assad, the Syrian president, and claims that he was abducted by space aliens one night in 1997. Kasparov, 51, who is also Russian, has said for years that Ilyumzhinov’s stewardship of the federation has discouraged corporate sponsorship and brought disrepute on the federation. Garry Kasparov, the former world chess champion, has long been a critic of President Vladimir Putin of Russia and has sought to find ways to force him out."
Checkmate again, Gar.
Also see: Dutch push Ukraine plane disaster inquiries
Oh, yeah, that, whatever it was. It could be a complete hoax, a strategically scripted and staged operation with another infamous Malaysian flight, a bomb on the plane, a shoot-down by who knows. What matters is how quickly it is forgotten once it serves the larger purpose, in this case getting the Ukraine Army to push to encircle the rebels and secure that crash site.
NEXT DAY UPDATE:
"Russian aid trucks depart for Ukraine’s eastern conflict zones" by Michael Birnbaum | Washington Post August 13, 2014
Aaaaaah!
KIEV — A long column of Russian trucks laden with relief supplies rumbled toward war-torn eastern Ukraine on Tuesday, unsettling Ukrainian officials who warned that any attempt by Moscow to deliver humanitarian aid without their consent would be treated as an invasion.
The convoy’s departure — announced on Russian television as an Orthodox priest sprinkled holy water on the tractor-trailers — raised fears among Western officials that Russia’s planned aid for the devastated region was a ruse to boost the combat capability of pro-Russian rebels there.
Two paragraphs in and a huge heaping dose of hypocrisy.
By day’s end, Russia and Ukraine appeared to have worked out a rough agreement that Russia would deliver the contents of the 198 trucks to the International Committee of the Red Cross at a Ukrainian-controlled border post near the city of Kharkiv. But important questions remained about the logistics of delivering the aid to hard-hit areas of eastern Ukraine, including whether the Russian vehicles would be allowed to cross the border.
Ukrainian officials appeared to have little faith in their Russian counterparts, accusing them of funneling weaponry to rebels and then saying Russia’s aid was needed to stanch the ensuing humanitarian catastrophe. Russia has denied helping the rebels.
‘‘Russia is playing an absolutely cynical game,’’ Deputy Foreign Minister Danylo Lubkivsky said Tuesday. In eastern Ukraine, ‘‘they are trying to use the pretext of humanitarian aid and assistance, and it seems they are just running out of excuses for their aggression.’’
Iraq, Maliki. I hope you can enjoy the rest of this rotten propaganda because I think I'm done with this one. It's offensive and frays the nerves. I surrender.
Ukrainian, US, and NATO officials have been cautious about the Russian aid offers, fearing that they could simply be a pretext to boost the rebels.
Ukrainian officials said Tuesday that there were ongoing negotiations about the structure of any humanitarian assistance to Ukraine from international partners, including Russia, but that plans would not be in place for up to a week. Important questions remained unanswered, they said, including the scope of civilian needs in eastern Ukraine and the willingness of rebels in the Luhansk region to facilitate aid distribution.
‘‘Ukraine is ready to receive from our partners. If Russia gets involved, we don’t mind, but it should happen according to our rules,’’ said the deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential administration, Valeriy Chaly.
But he said that any assistance that reaches Ukraine’s borders would need to be examined and handed over to the Red Cross for delivery. He warned that attempts to bring anything across the border without the consent of the Ukrainian government would be treated as an act of aggression.
‘‘If we have some surprise,’’ he said, ‘‘we will react as an independent sovereign country must react.’’
The Russian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday evening that it would follow Ukrainian requests about routes for transportation and inspection and that it would bring the convoy — totaling 262 vehicles, including the cargo-laden trucks — to the border near the Ukrainian-held city of Kharkiv.
But it said there were ‘‘puzzling statements’’ from Kiev about ‘‘new logistics requirements,’’ an apparent reference to the demand that the convoy not be allowed into Ukraine.
Western leaders said aid to Ukraine needs to be coordinated with the Ukrainian government.
Secretary of State John F. Kerry said during a visit to Australia that diplomatic efforts are underway to resolve tensions over the Russian shipments.
--more--"
I'm not liking it, although at least they are off the "Russia annexed Crimea" kick.
And just like Israel, they get what they want.
"Ukraine OKs Red Cross-led aid mission to east" by Yuras Karmanau and Peter Leonard | Associated Press August 12, 2014
DONETSK, Ukraine — Ukrainian forces on Monday zeroed in on rebel strongholds as the government welcomed an international humanitarian relief mission into the rebellious east involving Russia, the United States, and the European Union.
I'm getting dizzy from the spin.
The mission will be conducted under the auspices of the International Committee of the Red Cross. The organization said in a statement it is ready to facilitate the operation with the involvement of all sides concerned following a Russian initiative to provide humanitarian assistance to people in eastern Ukraine.
It wasn’t clear when the deliveries would start.
‘‘The practical details of this operation need to be clarified before this initiative can move forward,’’ said Laurent Corbaz, the ICRC’s head of operations for Europe and Central Asia.
Moscow had long urged Kiev to allow the aid delivery, but Ukraine and the West previously had opposed the move, fearing it could serve as a pretext for sending Russian troops into rebel-held territory. Ukraine and the West have accused Moscow of arming and supporting the rebels fighting government troops in the east, a charge that the Kremlin has denied.
The Red Cross said it has shared a document with Ukrainian and Russian authorities that stipulates all parties must guarantee the security of its staff during the operation and respect the organization’s neutrality.
So one Red Cross gets killed, it's pro-rebel Russia's fault, and awaaaaaaay we go!
The aid mission was announced after a conversation between President Obama and President Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine Monday.
The heroes of our age.
The White House said that Obama and Poroshenko agreed that ‘‘any Russian intervention in Ukraine without the formal, express consent and authorization of the Ukraine government would be unacceptable and a violation of international law.’’
Yeah, and.... ? The irony of the greatest law-breaking regime in history waving international law in other faces (exception Israel) can't not be properly prosed.
Shortly before that, Russia had declared that it was dispatching a humanitarian convoy into Ukraine in cooperation with the Red Cross without giving any details. President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, later was quoted by Russian news wires as saying that the convoy wouldn’t involve military personnel.
Officials in Kiev took pains to specify Monday that the Ukrainian government was behind the humanitarian convoy initiative and that Moscow was only one of several countries involved.
‘‘Apart from deliveries provided by Ukraine, the mission will feature an international component, including aid provided to the International Committee of the Red Cross by the United States, the EU, as well as Russia,’’ Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said.
The ministry also laid out specific conditions for the aid shipment, saying it should only pass through checkpoints controlled by the Ukrainian government. At least 60 miles of the long Russian-Ukrainian border is currently in rebel hands.
So how much is the junta going to steal?
It said that the aid will be distributed by the Ukrainian authorities in the Luhansk region, one of the two mostly Russian-speaking rebel provinces.
Some of the heaviest impact on civilians has been seen in the rebel-held provincial capital Luhansk, which had a pre-war population of 420,000. City authorities said Monday the 250,000 residents remaining have had no electricity or water supplies for nine days.
At least ISIS is letting the dams run.
Several Western diplomats and military officials said they were wary of Russia’s intentions. The secretary-general of NATO said there was a “high probability” of a Russian attack and Ukraine raised its estimate of Russian troop strength on the border.
These guys make me f***ing sick. Asshole NATO.
NATO has said in the past that Russia had amassed about 20,000 troops along the border, enough to begin a ground invasion. But on Monday, a Ukrainian military spokesman, Andriy Lysenko, said the numbers had risen alarmingly, to around 45,000 troops. Those figures could not be independently verified.
Oh, lied to again and no mention of the military drills and exercises Russia was conducting that have since ended?
In the last week, Ukrainian government forces have been closing on the few remaining rebel strongholds, including Donetsk, the largest rebel-held city.
--more--"
Looks like the war is over, doesn't it? We won -- again!
:-)
Now to make another foray deeper into Russia:
"Putin meets with Armenia, Azerbaijan heads" Associated Press August 11, 2014
MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin held a joint meeting Sunday with the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia, as concerns mount over the escalation of fighting over the South Caucasus region Nagorno-Karabakh.
Oooooh! That's the area of WWIII prophecy stuff!
Putin met with Presidents Serge Sarkisian of Armenia and Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan in Sochi to discuss rising tensions in the disputed territory. Nagorno-Karabakh is part of Azerbaijan but it and some surrounding territory have been under the control of Armenian soldiers and local Armenian forces since a 1994 cease-fire ended a separatist war. Since then, there have been sporadic clashes, but tensions have risen sharply in the past week as 19 soldiers were killed, 13 of them Azeri.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told news agencies that the meeting had been beneficial and both sides had committed to continuing talks, but admitted that ‘‘the devil is in the details, and the most complicated questions are still unsolved.’’
Years of diplomatic efforts under the auspices of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe have made little visible progress in resolving the dispute. In their opening remarks, both leaders criticized the other side for failing to live up to its international obligations in the conflict.
--more--"
Related: Cornering Putin could backfire
Because he plays chess while the U.S. is trying to raise him and bluff at poker.
"Report: Steven Seagal performed in Crimea
The Russian news agency RIA Novosti says American actor and musician Steven Seagal has performed at a concert in the breakaway region of Crimea on a stage decorated with the flag of pro-Russian separatists fighting in eastern Ukraine. Seagal, who knows Russian President Vladimir Putin, performed with his blues band Saturday night in the Black Sea port city of Sevastopol at a concert organized by a motorcycle gang of Russian nationalists known as the Night Wolves. Russia annexed the Ukrainian region in March. RIA Novosti reported that Seagal was then handed a shirt with Putin’s face on it, which he held aloft as he thanked the crowd. (AP)
Seagal has never been a favorite of Hollywood because of his cutting-edge movies, and given the way those artists who have spoken up for Gazans are being treated by the Zionist media machine known as Hollywood, the above doesn't help.
Night Wolves must be the Russian version of Hell's Angels.
Another Hollywood thorn:
On the next ‘Mad Max’
‘‘Mad Max’’ director George Miller was ‘‘heartbroken’’ over Mel Gibson’s string of scandals in recent years, and said plans for a new trilogy prompted him to pick a younger actor for revisiting the post-apocalyptic auto action franchise. Miller had originally hoped to bring Gibson back for a fourth film in the role of Max Rockatansky. But a series of delays led to recasting, with Tom Hardy, 36, stepping into the road warrior’s boots. Miller describes ‘‘Mad Max: Fury Road’’ as an extended chase taking place over three days. (AP)"
You already know what I think of Mel, and why I am not going to the cinema these days.
Another Russian nutty:
"Kirsan N. Ilyumzhinov, 52, a native of Kalmykia, a poor Russian republic on the Caspian Sea, has led the chess federation since 1995, but not without controversy. He cultivated friendships with Saddam Hussein, Moammar Khadafy, and Bashar Assad, the Syrian president, and claims that he was abducted by space aliens one night in 1997. Kasparov, 51, who is also Russian, has said for years that Ilyumzhinov’s stewardship of the federation has discouraged corporate sponsorship and brought disrepute on the federation. Garry Kasparov, the former world chess champion, has long been a critic of President Vladimir Putin of Russia and has sought to find ways to force him out."
Checkmate again, Gar.
Also see: Dutch push Ukraine plane disaster inquiries
Oh, yeah, that, whatever it was. It could be a complete hoax, a strategically scripted and staged operation with another infamous Malaysian flight, a bomb on the plane, a shoot-down by who knows. What matters is how quickly it is forgotten once it serves the larger purpose, in this case getting the Ukraine Army to push to encircle the rebels and secure that crash site.
NEXT DAY UPDATE:
"Russian aid trucks depart for Ukraine’s eastern conflict zones" by Michael Birnbaum | Washington Post August 13, 2014
Aaaaaah!
KIEV — A long column of Russian trucks laden with relief supplies rumbled toward war-torn eastern Ukraine on Tuesday, unsettling Ukrainian officials who warned that any attempt by Moscow to deliver humanitarian aid without their consent would be treated as an invasion.
The convoy’s departure — announced on Russian television as an Orthodox priest sprinkled holy water on the tractor-trailers — raised fears among Western officials that Russia’s planned aid for the devastated region was a ruse to boost the combat capability of pro-Russian rebels there.
Two paragraphs in and a huge heaping dose of hypocrisy.
By day’s end, Russia and Ukraine appeared to have worked out a rough agreement that Russia would deliver the contents of the 198 trucks to the International Committee of the Red Cross at a Ukrainian-controlled border post near the city of Kharkiv. But important questions remained about the logistics of delivering the aid to hard-hit areas of eastern Ukraine, including whether the Russian vehicles would be allowed to cross the border.
Ukrainian officials appeared to have little faith in their Russian counterparts, accusing them of funneling weaponry to rebels and then saying Russia’s aid was needed to stanch the ensuing humanitarian catastrophe. Russia has denied helping the rebels.
‘‘Russia is playing an absolutely cynical game,’’ Deputy Foreign Minister Danylo Lubkivsky said Tuesday. In eastern Ukraine, ‘‘they are trying to use the pretext of humanitarian aid and assistance, and it seems they are just running out of excuses for their aggression.’’
Iraq, Maliki. I hope you can enjoy the rest of this rotten propaganda because I think I'm done with this one. It's offensive and frays the nerves. I surrender.
Ukrainian, US, and NATO officials have been cautious about the Russian aid offers, fearing that they could simply be a pretext to boost the rebels.
Ukrainian officials said Tuesday that there were ongoing negotiations about the structure of any humanitarian assistance to Ukraine from international partners, including Russia, but that plans would not be in place for up to a week. Important questions remained unanswered, they said, including the scope of civilian needs in eastern Ukraine and the willingness of rebels in the Luhansk region to facilitate aid distribution.
‘‘Ukraine is ready to receive from our partners. If Russia gets involved, we don’t mind, but it should happen according to our rules,’’ said the deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential administration, Valeriy Chaly.
But he said that any assistance that reaches Ukraine’s borders would need to be examined and handed over to the Red Cross for delivery. He warned that attempts to bring anything across the border without the consent of the Ukrainian government would be treated as an act of aggression.
‘‘If we have some surprise,’’ he said, ‘‘we will react as an independent sovereign country must react.’’
The Russian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday evening that it would follow Ukrainian requests about routes for transportation and inspection and that it would bring the convoy — totaling 262 vehicles, including the cargo-laden trucks — to the border near the Ukrainian-held city of Kharkiv.
But it said there were ‘‘puzzling statements’’ from Kiev about ‘‘new logistics requirements,’’ an apparent reference to the demand that the convoy not be allowed into Ukraine.
Western leaders said aid to Ukraine needs to be coordinated with the Ukrainian government.
Secretary of State John F. Kerry said during a visit to Australia that diplomatic efforts are underway to resolve tensions over the Russian shipments.
--more--"
I'm not liking it, although at least they are off the "Russia annexed Crimea" kick.
