Paris, Aug 13 (IANS): French President Francois Hollande Tuesday expressed concerns over Russia's decision to send aid convoy to eastern Ukraine and stressed that such humanitarian help should be multilateral and with "Ukrainian consent".
In a telephonic conversation with his Russian counterpart, Hollande expressed very serious concerns over the issue that could trigger Russia's unilateral mission in Ukraine, Xinhua reported.
The French leader noted western countries apprehension that Moscow move would be a pretext to invade eastern Ukraine where Kiev forces were still fighting pro-Russia separatists.
Hollande also stressed a humanitarian operation could not occur in Ukraine without the consent of the Ukrainian national authorities and should be multilateral under the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) aegis.
On Monday, Putin announced decision to send humanitarian aid to eastern Ukraine where thousands of people suffered from electricity, water shortage and lack of medical aid because of continued battle between Ukrainians forces and militants loyal to Moscow.
For his part, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called for an international aid mission involving EU and Russia and under the aegis of the ICRC.