Putin's convoy

In the USA, it is not excluded that the sending of humanitarian goods from Russia to Donetsk and Lugansk may follow a military invasion of Ukraine

Russia curled up that I sent a convoy with a humanitarian cargo for the eastern regions of Ukraine. The motorcade left today early in the morning from the Moscow region. According to official messages, it includes about 280 cars with two thousand tons of food and essential items. Cars carry cereals, sugar, baby food, medical equipment, medicines, sleeping bags, mobile power plants.

The press secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov said that the Ministry of Emergencies without the intervention of the military dealt with the issues of humanitarian aid, and the place of intersection of the Russian-Ukrainian border was agreed with Kiev.

The Ukrainian side, in turn, claims that he does not expect a Russian humanitarian convoy. About this on his page on Facebook was written by the deputy head of the administration of the President of Ukraine Valery Chaly. According to him, Russia may join in the provision of humanitarian assistance to residents of the eastern regions, but only in accordance with international norms and laws of Ukraine .

The United States fears that the Kremlin’s humanitarian mission is just a screen to prepare aggression. On Monday, the presidents of the United States and Ukraine Barack Obama and Petro Poroshenko during a telephone conversation came to a consensus that Russia's actions in Ukrainian territory are unacceptable without the prior consent of Kyiv.

“NATO: high probability of Russian invasion,” writes Daily Beast. "Russia sends a motorcade with the help, despite the Western warnings that this is an excuse for the invasion," Reuters news agency reports. "Obama warns Russia against further intervention in Ukraine," the Wall Street Journal reports, and the capital The Washington Post publishes the editorial article "The West must confront the" humanitarian "invasion of Russia to Ukraine." Whether there will be enough calls and warnings on the part of the Western capitals in order to prevent such actions by the Russian ruler Vladimir Putin, it is not clear, the newspaper writes. "But the United States and their allies should be ready for quick actions if the Russian armed forces cross the border of Ukraine." The newspaper proposes to sharply expand military assistance to Ukraine and prepare a list of new pressure measures for Moscow.

A serious distrust of the motives and goals of Moscow in eastern Ukraine is due to the accumulated negative experience in interacting with the Kremlin, says Arch Paddington , vice president of the American human rights organization Freedom House:

It is impossible to recall a single humanitarian operation with the participation of Russia, wherever it pursues its own goals

- I personally are suspicious regarding any steps of Russia in Ukraine. It is impossible to recall a single humanitarian operation with the participation of Russia, wherever it pursues its own goals. I do not know a single example when Russia acted as a humanitarian donor following the example of the United States, Western European countries or Japan. In my opinion, the sending of the Russian motorcade with humanitarian aid is most likely an attempt to start a military invasion under a plausible pretext, or an attempt to aggravate tension, creating additional uncertainty regarding further actions of the Russian military contingent located on the border with Ukraine. Of course, I can be mistaken, and Moscow sends goods to Ukraine with a desire to provide humanitarian aid, but it is possible that incidents will occur during this humanitarian operation that can provoke the intervention of the Russian army under the pretext of stopping bloodshed and establishing peace in the region.

At the same time, Arch Paddington believes that an effective humanitarian mission in eastern Ukraine is possible if it passes under the auspices of the Red Cross:

- Such an operation will make sense if the Red Cross is participated in it. It differs in that it always does everything necessary in order to prevent the use of such situations in the political interests of certain countries.

American expert Richard Wightz from the Gudzon Institute in Washington says that it is impossible to predict Russia's actions:

If the Russian army hatches plans for the invasion of Ukraine, then the humanitarian operation may become a pretext

- If the Russian army hatches plans for the invasion of Ukraine, then the humanitarian operation may become an excuse. Russia will want to introduce troops, say, to protect the civilian population or to ensure support for the humanitarian operation. But, on the other hand, the provision of assistance to the population of the Lugansk and Donetsk regions gives Putin a chance to repay the crisis and adequately retreat. But this is possible only if the Ukrainian government agrees to participate in Russia in the international action to assist the population of cities under the control of separatists.

- What can be a Western answer if Russia enters the troops to Ukraine?

- The NATO Union stated that he would not enter into military operations, but he is preparing a voluminous package of assistance to Ukraine, including the preparation of its armed forces. In addition, we can expect the imposition of additional sanctions and the extension of their actions, ”says American expert Richard Wightz.