NATO sees alarming build-up of Russian forces near Ukraine - Rasmussen

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Friday the alliance had observed an alarming build-up of Russian ground and air forces in the vicinity of Ukraine.       

"We have also seen transfers of large quantities of advanced weapons, including tanks, armoured personnel carriers and artillery to separatist groups in eastern Ukraine," Rasmussen said in a statement, noting that Russia continued to escalate the crisis in eastern Ukraine and that this could lead to further isolation of Moscow. 

Rasmussen also condemned Russia for sending a "so-called humanitarian convoy" into Ukraine without the consent of the Ukrainian authorities and without any involvement of the International Committee of the Red Cross.     

"It can only deepen the crisis in the region, which Russia itself has created and has continued to fuel," Rasmussen said.

Earlier on Friday, Ukraine said the entry of Russian aid trucks onto its territory was a "flagrant violation" of international law and it appealed to the international community to condemn Russia's actions as illegal and aggressive.       

The foreign ministry said in a statement that, while Ukrainian authorities had not given the convoy permission to enter, it had been allowed to cross the border to avoid further provocative action.       

Kiev said Russia had launched a direct invasion of its territory by sending the convoy into eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian rebels are fighting government forces.          

"We call upon all international partners to unite in decisively condemning Russia's illegal and aggressive actions," the ministry said in a statement.        

"In order to avoid provocations we gave all the necessary commands for the safe passage of the convoy ... We consider this another flagrant violation by Russia of the main principles of international law."        

According to the Ukrainian border service, 145 trucks had crossed the border from Russia by 1030 GMT.           

Ukrainian state security chief Valentyn Nalivaychenko told journalists that the convoy's entry represented a "direct invasion" of Ukraine by the Russian Federation.         

He said Ukrainian forces would not attack it, though its security could not be guaranteed by Kiev because of fighting by pro-Russian separatists in the east, where the convoy was moving towards the Luhansk region.

MERKEL CALLS PUTIN, POROSHENKO

Chancellor Angela Merkel said in two separate phone calls on Friday with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko that she was concerned that a Russian humanitarian aid convoy crossed into Ukraine without permission, her spokesman Steffen Seibert said.      

Seibert also said in a statement that Merkel had praised Ukraine's prudent reaction after she said Russia risked exacerbating an already tense situation there. She also appealed for quick agreements on a ceasefire and territorial integrity.          

"Chancellor Merkel expressed her great concern about the fact that the convoy had crossed the border without the approval of Ukraine, without accompanying by the Red Cross and in part without any previous inspection," Seibert said in a statement.      

"Russia thus knowingly risked escalating an already tense situation," he added. "She praised the prudent Ukrainian reaction."         

Merkel also appealed for a speed agreement for a ceasefire and measures to ensure the integrity of international frontiers.       

Earlier, the Kremlin said in a statement that Putin and Merkel had spoken on the phone and "discussed... certain steps that Russia and Germany could undertake in order to contribute to swift end to the fighting and establishment of an internal dialogue in Ukraine."         

Putin also told Merkel that Russia decided to send the humanitarian convoy into Ukraine, because it could no longer wait for Kiev to give the green light. He also expressed concern over escalation of violence in eastern Ukraine, the Kremlin statement said.   

WHITE HOUSE

The White House on Friday denounced a Russian convoy's move into Ukraine, calling it a flagrant violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and saying Russia should remove it or face more economic sanctions.      

Ben Rhodes, the White House deputy national security adviser, told reporters the Russian move adds to the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in a dangerous way.        

He said the United States planned to discuss the situation with the U.N. Security Council on Friday. He said if the convoy is not removed, the Russians will face "additional costs," meaning sanctions that have been levied against the Russian economy.

REACTIONS

The United States is very concerned about the movement of a Russian convoy into Ukraine in violation of its territorial integrity and is calling on Moscow to withdraw its equipment and personnel immediately, the Pentagon said on Friday.       

"This is a violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity by Russia," Rear Admiral John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, told a briefing. "Russia must remove its vehicles and its personnel from the territory of Ukraine immediately. Failure to do so will result in additional costs and isolation."

Also on Friday, a senior Russian diplomat said Moscow is not in breach of international law over its humanitarian convoy to Ukraine. 

"We are acting in full accordance with international humanitarian law norms," Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in a statement. "We cannot accept and will not accept the disastrous situation in which people living in the south-east of Ukraine have found themselves."
 
This comes after the EU's foreign policy chief's office said Russia's decision to send a convoy of aid trucks across the border into eastern Ukraine without Kiev's consent and an escort of international observers is a clear violation of Ukraine's border.
 
"This is a clear violation of the Ukrainian border. This also goes counter to the previous arrangements reached between Ukraine, Russia and the ICRC. We urge Russia to reverse its decision," Sebastien Brabant, spokesman for the European Union's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, said.