Putin, EU chief discuss humanitarian convoy sent to Ukraine

Russia is sending a humanitarian convoy to Ukraine in collaboration with representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), President Vladimir Putin told European Commission (EC) President Jose Manuel Barroso on Monday.

According to the Kremlin press service, the two leaders spoke by phone on Monday discussing the Ukraine crisis and highlighting the "catastrophic consequences" of Kiev government's military operation against insurgents in eastern Ukraine.

Putin stressed the urgency of immediate delivery of humanitarian aid to the embattled Donetsk and Lugansk regions, according to the Interfax news agency.

Barroso said the European Union (EU) was joining international efforts for humanitarian relief in eastern Ukraine, while voicing concern over alleged Russian troops' concentration near the Ukrainian border, as well as "the continuing flow of arms, equipment and militants from Russian territory into Ukraine."

He also warned Russia against any unilateral military operations in Ukraine "under any pretext, including humanitarian," according to the official EC website.

Also on Monday, Barroso called on Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to set up a special coordination mechanism to help people in conflict-affected areas, adding that the EU stood ready to provide Ukraine with 2.5 million U.S. dollars in humanitarian aid.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said earlier that Russia and Ukraine agreed on details of a humanitarian relief operation under the aegis of the ICRC in southeast Ukraine.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry noted that Kiev has notified Moscow regarding conditions on which Russian humanitarian cargo may be delivered to the regions in need.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin stressed Monday that the humanitarian aid must not be manipulated by politics, while the entire process must be monitored by organizations like the ICRC.

The UN said of the 117,910 people registered as internally displaced persons (IDPs) throughout Ukraine, 87 percent were from the country's east. There were 168,677 Ukrainians registered as having crossed into Russia.