Russia allows Ukraine to inspect aid convoy

Russia on Friday allowed Ukrainian officials to inspect an aid convoy and agreed to let the Red Cross distribute donated supplies around the rebel-held city of Luhansk, easing tensions and dispelling Ukrainian fears that the aid operation is a ruse to provide military assistance to pro-Russian rebels.

In violation of an earlier tentative agreement, Russia had sent the convoy of roughly 200 trucks to a border crossing under the control of the rebels, raising the prospect that it could enter Ukraine without being inspected by government officials and the Red Cross. 

Kiev had said the humanitarian aid might be used as cover for a Russian military intervention and had vowed to use all means necessary to block the convoy in such a scenario, leading to fears of escalation in the conflict. Moscow has denied any ulterior motives.

Adding to the tensions, a dozen Russian armored personnel carriers appeared early Friday near where the aid trucks were parked for the night, 17 miles from the border with Ukraine.

But the two sides reached an agreement Friday morning that allowed 41 Ukrainian border guards and 18 customs officials to begin inspecting the Russian aid at the border crossing, defense officials in Kiev said in a statement. Sergei Astakhov, an assistant to the deputy head of Ukraine's border guard service, said Red Cross representatives would observe the inspections.

Both sides also said that the aid deliveries themselves would be carried out exclusively by the Red Cross.

Laurent Corbaz, the International Committee of the Red Cross' director of operations in Europe, described a tentative plan in which the trucks would enter Ukraine with a single Russian driver each — as opposed to the crew of several people currently in each truck — accompanied by a Red Cross worker. In line with Red Cross policy, there would be no military escort, he said.

Corbaz said the plan foresees the aid being delivered to a central point in rebel-held territory, and then distributed throughout the region. It was unclear how long the operation might last, but "it's not going to be solved in one week," he said.

The details were still being negotiated by all sides, including the rebels, Corbaz said in Kiev, and the Red Cross still had not received the security guarantees it needs to proceed.

Meanwhile, Ukraine proceeded with its own aid operation in the Luhansk area. Trucks sent from the eastern city of Kharkiv were unloaded Friday morning at warehouses in the town of Starobilsk, where the goods will be sorted and transported further by the Red Cross. Starobilsk is about 60 miles north of Luhansk. 

Kiev and NATO have said they fear Russia, which they say has massed more than 40,000 troops near the border, will invade east Ukraine. 

Russia says it is conducting military exercises and has no plans to invade. It also denies supporting rebels in eastern Ukraine with arms and funds. 

The United States and the European Union have imposed sanctions on Russia over its role in east Ukraine and the earlier annexation of Ukraine's region of Crimea, in what has become the worst crisis in relations between Moscow and the West since the end of the Cold War.  

Earlier this month, Russia ordered its government agencies to restrict certain food and agricultural products that are imported as a means of retaliation against the countries that have imposed sanctions on it. 

Al Jazeera and wire services