Ukraine isolates East from aid: Kiev plans to close border with Russia, again

Press TV
Thu, 25 Sep 2014 19:45 UTC

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Poroshenko enjoying a moment of duper's delight

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has ordered his cabinet to "temporarily" close the border with Russia in the east.

In a decree published on the presidential website on Thursday, Poroshenko instructed his government to consider temporarily closing the border in the east of the country to stop what he called Moscow's "continued intervention" in Ukraine's internal affairs.

The ruling orders the government "to settle the issue of temporary closing checkpoints on Ukraine's state border with the Russian Federation to cars, sea and pedestrian traffic."

Poroshenko's remarks come days after the third Russian humanitarian aid convoy of about 200 vehicles crossed the border into the Ukrainian territory.

The government in Kiev and its Western allies have denounced Moscow's move, calling the aid convoys an invasion of Ukraine. However, Russia says the aid delivery is crucial as parts of Ukraine remain blocked by government troops limiting basic supplies.

Widespread destruction from heavy shelling has left hundreds of thousands of residents of eastern regions of Ukraine without electricity and drinking water.

Ukraine's mainly Russian-speaking regions in the east have witnessed deadly clashes between pro-Moscow forces and the Ukrainian army since Kiev launched military operations to silence pro-Russians in mid-April.

Violence intensified in May after the two flashpoint regions of Donetsk and Lugansk held local referendums in which their residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of independence from Ukraine.

Kiev and its Western allies have repeatedly accused Moscow of destabilizing Ukraine by supplying arms to the pro-Russian forces fighting for control of the eastern provinces, but the Kremlin denies the accusation.

Comment: Same old, same old.

Russia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov stated in June:

As to statements of Kiev authorities' representatives about the intention to completely close the border with Russia, I do not quite understand what case in hand is this and to what it is referred to," the minister said. "If they are going to block all channels of free movement of our citizens including labor migrants, we would like to specifically understand what exactly they mean to do.