Russian, Ukrainian Customs Agree on Humanitarian Convoy Inspection, Red Cross 'Satisfied'

MOSCOW, August 17 (RIA Novosti) - Russian and Ukrainian customs and border patrol authorities have agreed on the conditions of the examination of Moscow's humanitarian convoy, which has partially arrived at the border, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said in a statement Sunday.

"Border and custom officials from Russia and Ukraine agree to inspect first group of Russian convoy trucks shortly. We will observe," the ICRC said on its official Twitter page.

The head of the ICRC delegation covering in Russia, Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine, Pascal Cuttat, examined the trucks and said he was satisfied with its condition, Russia's Emergencies Ministry said Sunday.

"Pascal Cuttat was satisfied with what he saw and confirmed he was ready to continue working on formalizing the cargo," the ministry said in a statement.

The first 16 trucks of Russia’s humanitarian aid convoy arrived at the customs checkpoint at the Ukrainian border earlier in the day, with more expected to follow. The trucks will not cross the border or undergo customs checks on Sunday, a representative of the contractor transport company, Sergei Sorokin, told RIA Novosti earlier in the day.

In early August, in the light of a worsening humanitarian situation in the Ukrainian east, Russia came up with a proposal at the UN Security Council to send an international humanitarian mission with Russian humanitarian aid under the auspices of the ICRC to the troubled regions.

On August 12, 280 trucks carrying about 2,000 tons of humanitarian aid, with 400 tons of grain, 100 tons of sugar, 62 tons of baby food, 54 tons of medication, 12,000 sleeping bags and 69 mobile electrical generators set off from the Moscow region heading towards conflict areas in crisis-torn Ukraine.

RIA Novosti