Sunday Times 2
Tensions over Russian aid convoy as Merkel heads to Kiev
View(s):KIEV, Aug 23 (AFP) -Parts of a mammoth aid convoy from Moscow today crossed back from rebel-held east Ukraine to Russian territory, as German Chancellor Angela Merkel jetted into Kiev for crisis talks.
The West had demanded that Russia withdraw its disputed trucks after the Kremlin unilaterally sent them to the insurgent stronghold of Lugansk on Friday in a move Kiev decried as an “invasion”.
An observer for the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) at the border told AFP that some of the white lorries had returned to Russia but could not specify how many were still inside Ukraine.
US President Barack Obama and Merkel had warned following a telephone call that the Russian decision to send in the convoy marked a “dangerous escalation” of the four months of conflict in Ukraine with Western fears mounting that it could presage Moscow sending in troops.
Merkel will have to tread a fine line in Ukraine, showing firm support for Kiev’s pro-Western leaders while also pushing for them to halt their increasingly successful — but brutal — offensive.
Merkel, the most influential Western leader to visit Ukraine’s pro-Western leaders, will hold talks with President Petro Poroshenko, three days ahead of the first meeting in months between Poroshenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Minsk alongside top EU officials.