A convoy of hundreds of Russian vehicles that entered into eastern Ukraine without government permission have returned to Russian territory, according to the latest reports.
Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko told Reuters, "According to our information as of 1pm (10.00 GMT), the departure from the territory of Ukraine by 184 Russian vehicles has been confirmed." However, when asked whether there were any Russian vehicles remaining in Ukranian territory, Lysenko replied “I don’t know”.
Russia meanwhile stated that it was “satisfied” with the delivery of humanitarian aid into the pro-Russian separatist held city of Luhansk, adding “We were guided in this exclusively by the goal of helping needy civilians.”
The move was slammed by Western officials, with doubts cast over the contents in the vehicles that were carried into pro-separatist areas. The head of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) mission, Paul Picard, told the BBC that only the first 37 trucks of the convoy had been inspected by the Red Cross.
The United States said Russia’s decision to send the convoy without Ukranian government permission was “in violation of its previous commitments and international law.”
Britiain’s UN ambassador and current UN Security Council president, Mark Lyall Grant, also told reporters the move was “an undeniable and blatant violation of Ukrainian sovereignty."
"It has nothing to do with humanitarianism. That humanitarian effort is being coordinated by the U.N. and if the Russia federation wanted to participate in that, it could have done so in a collective way rather than acting unilaterally," he added.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel lands in Kiev
The return of the convoy to Russia comes as German Chancellor Angela Merkel flew into the Ukranian capital to meet with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
Merkel had earlier called the Russian move a "dangerous escalation".
Upon arrival in Kiev, Merkel said that she had come "in a difficult time which is focussed on the unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine." She went on to add,
"I hope that we will be able to discuss bilateral problems and support from Germany as well as the path towards peace, which must be found."
In an interview to appear Sunday in the German weekly Welt am Sonntag, Germany's vice chancellor, Sigmar Gabriel, called for a federal solution to the conflict, reportedly saying
"The wise concept of federalism seems to me the only viable path".
The full interview is to be published tomorrow.