Convoy 'deepens' crisis

Defending his decision to send in an aid convoy without Kyiv's permission, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he could no longer wait for Kyiv to approve entry of the country.

In a phone call to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Putin said after Kyiv's "clear procrastination," further delays would have been "unacceptable" considering the disaster in the conflict zone.

Ukraine's state security chief Valentin Nalivaychenko on Friday said Moscow's decision to start sending the trucks across the border constituted a "direct invasion" and a "well-planned dangerous provocation," according to the Interfax Ukraine news agency. He added that Ukraine would not attack the convoy and wanted to avoid any confrontations.

Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko told Reuters the convoy had violated agreements previously reached by Kyiv and Moscow, because the trucks "passed into Ukraine without clearance or participation of the International Red Cross or (Ukrainian) border guards."

Under the agreement, the convoy was to be accompanied by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), however the organization decided not to take part, citing security concerns.

"We are not part of the convoy in any way," Victoria Zotikova, a spokeswoman for the ICRC in Moscow, told the AFP news agency. "We have not received sufficient security guarantees from the fighting parties," she added.

'Arrival' of trucks

The convoy of 260 trucks had been stuck at the border for around a week, as Ukrainian officials questioned the cargo on board, alleging that Moscow might be trying to supply pro-Russian separatists with weapons. Russia denies these allegations.

Earlier on Friday, the Russian Foreign Ministry released a statement saying its patience was wearing thin, and that its convoy of relief supplies - including water, food and medical supplies - had started moving towards the eastern Ukrainian city of Luhansk.

Pro-Moscow rebels claimed the first trucks of the convoy had arrived on Friday in the eastern rebel bastion of Luhansk.

"Really, the first vehicles have reached Luhansk," Konstantin Knyrik, the head of a separatist news agency told Russia's Interfax wire service, as reported by news agency AFP.

The claim, however, could not be immediately verified.

Alarming buildup of Russian forces

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Friday there was an "alarming buildup" of Russian air and ground forces around Ukraine.

"We have also seen transfers of large quantities of advanced weapons, including tanks, armored personnel carriers and artillery to separatist groups in eastern Ukraine," Rasmussen said in a statement.

He sharply criticized Moscow's decision to send the convoy forcefully over the border, saying it was a "blatant breech of Russia's international commitments" and that it "only deepens the crisis."

"The disregard of international humanitarian principles raises further questions about whether the true purpose of the aid convoy is to support civilians or to resupply armed separatists," he added.

Humanitarian crisis

A humanitarian disaster has been unfolding in the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine in recent weeks. According to the United Nations, more than 415,000 people have been displaced since fighting between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists began four months ago. More than 2,000 have been killed. Parts of the country have been without running water or electricity for weeks.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is expected to meet with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Saturday.

sb/rc (AFP, AP, Reuters)