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Russian trucks barred from passing through Ukraine

Monday, 15 February 2016 1:48 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 15 February 2016 1:47 PM ]

A truck driver walks past vehicles stopped near the border crossing point at Kalanchak in southern Ukraine on September 20, 2015. (AFP Photo)

Kiev has temporarily banned Russian trucks from crossing Ukrainian territory in an apparent tit for tat measure.

"Ukraine has temporarily suspended ... transit permits for cargo vehicles with Russian registrations,” Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk said on Monday in a statement.

Diplomatic and trade ties between Russia and Ukraine have soured after the Crimean Peninsula rejoined Russia in a referendum in March 2014 and Kiev commenced a military crackdown on pro-Russian forces fighting for greater autonomy in Lugansk and Donetsk in the east of the country.

Yatseniuk said the ban will continue “until it [Kiev] receives an explanation and resolution of this dispute" on road freight between the two neighboring countries.

On Sunday, the Russian Transport Ministry barred Ukrainian trucks because Ukrainian protesters had been blocking some Russian trucks from entering Ukraine.

"Unfortunately the Ukrainian government is incapable of restoring order. The fact that some thugs are holding up trucks with firearms, means that there are no authorities in Ukraine," Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev (AFP Photo)

The ban does not apply to Ukrainian cargo trucks traveling to Kazakhstan via Russia, said Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich.

Russia has been targeted by a series of sanctions imposed by Kiev’s allies, namely the United States and the European Union, over allegations that Moscow is arming and supporting pro-Russia forces fighting in eastern Ukraine.

Rejecting the accusations as "groundless”, Russia has launched counter-measures.

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