Putin Vows to End Violence in Eastern Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin has promised to do everything to stop the ongoing violence in eastern parts of neighboring Ukraine.
Speaking in Crimea, the Russian president described the violence in eastern Ukraine as fratricide.
“The country has sunk into bloody chaos in a fratricidal conflict,” Putin said, adding, “We will do our best to end this conflict as soon as possible so that the bloodletting in Ukraine ends.”
The Russian president also lashed out at Western governments for pressuring Russia over Ukraine. Putin said Moscow will withdraw its participation in such organizations as the European Court of Human Rights, should the West threaten Russia’s national interests.
President Putin also said he has signed off on establishing a Russian military task force in Crimea.
Earlier this year, Crimea rejoined Russia decades after Moscow gave the peninsula to Ukraine during the Soviet era.
On March 16, Crimea’s largely Russian-speaking residents voted in a referendum to break away from Ukraine and join Russia.
The Ukrainian government, the United States and the European Union rejected the referendum and condemned Crimea’s move.
On March 21, President Putin signed into law documents that officially made the Black Sea peninsula part of the Russian territory. Putin said the move was carried out based on international law.
Russia said last month it would invest more than USD 20 billion in Crimea up to 2020 mainly for building a bridge across a four-kilometer strait separating Crimea from Russia.
Russia armored vehicles join aid convoy near Ukraine
Meanwhile, Russia has reportedly stationed a dozen heavy military vehicles near the border with Ukraine, where Moscow’s aid convoy destined for Ukrainian civilians awaits permission to enter the country.
On Friday, witnesses reported that 12 Russian armored personnel carriers (APCs) appeared near the convoy of trucks carrying humanitarian aid near the Ukrainian border.
Meanwhile, Andriy Demchenko, a senior Ukrainian border official, said the country’s border guards have crossed into the Russian border “in large numbers” to inspect Moscow’s relief aid convoy.
The convoy of at least 280 vehicles has been parked at a military depot in southern Russia amid disagreement between Moscow and Kiev over how and where it would cross into Ukraine.
Russia says it seeks to provide the people in east Ukraine with 2,000 tons of water, baby food and other humanitarian aid. Moscow insists it has coordinated the dispatch of the goods with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
However, the Kiev government and some Western states have said the humanitarian aid convoy could be a cover for a Russian military incursion into Ukraine.
Kiev has also said it fears the Russian convoy might be a “Trojan horse” bringing in military support for the pro-Russian forces in eastern Ukraine. Moscow has described such claims as “absurd.”
PRESS T.V
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