Russian aid trucks depart Ukraine

DONETSK, Russia – Hundreds of Russian aid trucks returned home Saturday from rebel-held eastern Ukraine, highlighting a dire need for long-term assistance to the region where homes and livelihoods have been destroyed by months of fighting.

Ahead of a much-anticipated meeting Tuesday between the presidents of Russia and Ukraine, German Chancellor Angela Merkel held talks in Kiev with Ukrainian officials and expressed hope for a peaceful solution to the conflict that has claimed more than 2,000 lives.

Russia unilaterally sent hundreds of aid trucks into Ukraine through a rebel-held border point Friday, saying it had lost patience with Ukraine’s delaying tactics.

By mid-afternoon Saturday, all the vehicles had returned to Russia, Paul Picard of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe told reporters in the Russian town of Donetsk. A Russian emergency official said 227 vehicles had taken part.

An AP reporter on the Ukrainian side of the border was able to look inside about 40 of the white-tarpaulined tractor-trailers and confirmed they were empty. Russia said the trucks carried only food, water, generators and sleeping bags to the hard-hit rebel stronghold of Luhansk.

Ukraine and others – including the U.S., the European Union and NATO – denounced the Russian move as a violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty. Kiev and Western countries also suggested the convoy could be used to smuggle supplies and reinforcements to pro-Russian separatists fighting the government.

It remained unclear, however, what the Russian convoy actually had delivered, since it only arrived late Friday afternoon. Unloading all those trucks in just a few hours in a war-battered region represents a sizeable task. AP journalists following the convoy said rattling sounds Friday indicated some of the trucks were not fully loaded.

In those towns and cities recaptured by Ukrainian forces from the rebels, the need is glaring for something more long-term than a one-time delivery of food and water. Assistance has been trickling in from the government and international donors, but still is not enough to help rebuild livelihoods destroyed by war.

One of the countries pledging aid to Ukraine is Germany. Chancellor Merkel held talks Saturday with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in Kiev and promised 500 million euros ($660 million) in loan guarantees to support private investment in infrastructure and schools in war-struck areas.

Merkel urged a political solution to the crisis three days before Poroshenko will be meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Minsk in their first encounter since June. Merkel said she was looking forward to the outcome of those talks and expressed “hope that at least a step forward will be reached there.”