Ukraine Ambassador says 'escalation of the conflict is very worrisome' in visit to Kingston.
By Julia McKay, Kingston Whig-Standard
Friday, August 22, 2014 10:15:26 EDT PM
Russian forces have made a significant move Friday in the conflict with Ukraine by sending a large convoy of trucks across the border into East Ukraine without consent.
"Although we are making some progress cleaning up our land from people who are fighting, killing people, blowing up bridges and taking down the planes, we see today that Russia is openly supporting, and not just supporting but sending in the convoys, as they ram their way into Ukrainian territory," said Ukrainian Ambassador to Canada Vadym Prystaiko.
"This so-called humanitarian convoy ... started today inside the Ukraine territory without talking to Ukrainians or the Red Cross an international humanitarian organization. This last escalation of the conflict is very worrisome and there are nations around the globe who are saying that we are going to real, full-scale war."
Ambassador Prystaiko was in Kingston to attend the commemoration ceremony that marked the 100th anniversary of the War Measures Act and of Canada's first national internment camps at Fort Henry.
"(Saturday) morning we might wake and we'll see on CNN a burning white truck, and who will be to blame?" Prystaiko said. "We only know that it's being escorted by separatists, which means at the same time (Russia was) supporting them all the time, which is what we were telling you. Now they're doing it openly."