Russian convoy waiting at Ukraine border

Hundreds of trucks in a Russian aid convoy waited Saturday near the Ukrainian border, as Russian and Ukrainian officials work out plans to deliver humanitarian aid to pro-Russian separatists inside Ukraine, according to the Associated Press. 

Ukrainian and Western officials believe the convoy of aid is a guise for Russia to send in equipment for the rebels, who have been battling Ukrainian forces since April. 

{mosads}Both sides have reportedly reached an agreement that the convoy could enter Ukraine if the cargo is approved by Ukrainian border guards and custom agents, and are accompanied by the Red Cross.

There were conflicting reports from Russian and Ukrainian officials Saturday over whether the cargo had been approved. 

Meanwhile, fighting continued between Ukrainian forces and the rebels in eastern Ukraine, according to a Ukrainian spokesman. 

On Friday, Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko said Ukrainian forces had destroyed most of a column of Russian military vehicles that had entered Ukraine on Thursday. Russian denied any incursion, and the White House said Friday they were working to gather more information. 

“Even as we work to gather information, we reiterate our concern about repeated Russian and Russian-supported incursions into Ukraine.  Russia has no right to send vehicles, persons, or cargo of any kind into Ukraine, under any pretext, without the Government of Ukraine’s permission,” said National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden. 

A separatist leader said in a recent YouTube video Friday that 1,200 troops who had been trained for four months in Russia were being “brought into action at the most crucial moment,” according to the BBC. 

U.S. officials say Russia has been supplying the rebels with tanks, armored vehicles, artillery, multiple rocket launchers, surface-to-air missile systems, training and even firing “on a regular basis” upon Ukrainian military positions inside Ukraine. 

The foreign ministers of Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany are expected to meet Sunday to discuss the crisis, which began after Russia annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in March. 

France has a pending sale of warships to Russia, while Russia imports a third of its natural gas and oil from Germany.

“The meeting of French, German, Ukrainian and Russian foreign ministers planned for Sunday could be a first step towards that meeting,” said French President Francois Hollande on Saturday, according to Reuters. 

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told German newspaper Bild am Sonntag that he hoped it would “finally be possible to bring about an end to these violent confrontations.”