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UN: Donbas urgently needs humanitarian aid

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs thanks Russian Emergencies Ministry for providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine’s south-east

© Nikolay Muravyov/TASS

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Humanitarian situation in Donbas remains complicated — Russian minister

MOSCOW, November 6. /TASS/. Donbas urgently needs humanitarian aid though the situation in the Luhansk Region is gradually improving, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O’Brien said on Friday at the meeting with Russian Emergencies Minister Vladimir Puchkov.

No one will be able to meet the demands of Donetsk and Luhansk in terms of humanitarian aid, O’Brien said adding that he visited both Donetsk and Luhansk. The situation in Luhansk is gradually improving, he noted.

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has recommended Kiev to allow people to move more freely, O’Brien said. He thanked Russian Emergencies Ministry for providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine’s south-east reminding that 43 humanitarian convoys and more than 52,000 tons of aid have been delivered to Donetsk and Luhansk.

Puchkov stressed that it is important to fully implement the Minsk Agreements. "People should receive all payments from Ukrainian authorities. It is also high time to lift the blockade [from Donbas] and secure delivery of humanitarian aid to people. All of this is outlined in the point 7 of the Minsk Agreements," the emergencies minister said.

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UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs visits Donbas

The self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and United Nations will cooperate in the humanitarian sphere in the framework of the rules in force in the republic on the accreditation of international missions, DPR parliament speaker Denis Pushilin said on Friday.

On Thursday Pushilin, who also heads the Inter-departmental committee on accreditation of humanitarian organizations, met with O’Brien in Donetsk. "We agreed to cooperate in the future, but in the framework of established rules recommended by the head’s decree and the provision of the Inter-departmental committee on accreditation of humanitarian organizations," Donetsk News Agency quoted Pushilin as saying.

He also noted that DPR will insist on accreditation of all humanitarian organizations in accordance with the rules adopted in the republic. "Distribution and registration of humanitarian aid should be completed under the strict control of the government. The chaotic work of humanitarian missions which was acceptable at the start of the state formation, is now unacceptable," he stressed.

It was reported in the middle of October that DPR authorities did not allow UN to carry out humanitarian activities on the territory of the republic because they asked for special accreditation conditions.

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Ukraine crisis United Nations Eastern Ukraine Humanitarian aid

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