BBC Online :
About 100 lorries from an unauthorised Russian aid convoy have crossed back over the border from rebel-held eastern Ukraine, officials say.
The convoy was returning from the city of Luhansk, which is held by pro-Russian separatists who have been battling Ukrainian government forces.
Meanwhile German Chancellor Angela Merkel has arrived in the Ukrainian capital Kiev for talks. On Friday she described the convoy as a “dangerous escalation”.
Western officials fear the convoy could be part of a military intervention. But Kremlin officials say the vehicles are only carrying generators, food and drink. The lorries had already been waiting at the border for a week, while Russia, the The Russians said they could not wait any longer, owing to the worsening humanitarian situation in eastern Ukraine, which is held by pro-Russian separatists.
Four months of fighting in the region have left more than 2,000 people dead. More than 330,000 people have fled flee their homes.
At least 220 trucks drove into Ukraine on Friday, headed for the rebel-held city of Luhansk, which has been affected by weeks of fighting between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian rebels.
International monitors based in the border region say that some of the vehicles have now crossed back into Russia, a development confirmed by Russian news agencies.
According to the Associated Press, journalists could see that about 40 of these returning lorries were empty – but it is unclear whether all of them are, and it also unclear what the convoy delivered. The White House and the Ukrainian government both described the deployment of the convoy as a flagrant violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty.
In a phone call, US President Barack Obama and Mrs Merkel said the conflict “has continued to deteriorate” since a Malaysian airliner was downed last month over rebel-held territory, with the loss of all 298 people on board.
