The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) does not intend to curtail its presence in Ukraine. It is ready to carry on its humanitarian mission in the east of the country, Laurent Corbaz, the ICRC head of operations in Europe and Central Asia, said while meeting Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin in Kyiv on 8 October, Interfax-Ukraine reported at 10:35 Kyiv time today.
According to the Foreign Ministry’s press service, Klimkin emphasized the importance of the ICRC’s further operations in Ukraine, including deliveries of humanitarian aid to the eastern regions, and expressed confidence that the upcoming expansion of the OSCE monitoring mission would enhance security for the ICRC employees.
Klimkin expressed his condolences over the death of an ICRC employee in a shelling incident in Donetsk and assured Corbaz that Ukraine would do its best to establish the causes for the tragic incident and punish those responsible.
Corbaz came to Ukraine on a two-day visit.
Laurent Du Pasquier, a 38-year-old Swiss citizen and an ICRC employee, was killed on 2 October as a result of militant shelling of Donetsk. The ICRC declared that it would suspend operations in Ukraine in connection with the incident. The ICRC delegation, including Corbaz and his deputy Regis Savioz, arrived in Kyiv in the early hours of 8 October.
