Ukraine and Russia parry over aid convoy

KAMENSK-SHAKHTINSKY, Russia - Raising the stakes in Ukraine's conflict, a Russian aid convoy of more than 200 trucks pushed up to the border Thursday, then stopped, provocatively poised to cross into rebel-held territory.

The Ukrainian government threatened to use all means available to block the convoy if the Red Cross was not allowed to inspect the cargo. Such an inspection would ease concerns that Russia could use the aid shipment as cover for a military incursion in support of the separatists, who have come under growing pressure from government troops.

The U.S. has warned Russia that it needs Ukraine's permission for the convoy to enter. "We've made that very clear to the Russians that they should not move these trucks in without taking all of the steps the Ukrainian government has outlined," State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said Thursday.

Amid the tensions, European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso called Russian and Ukrainian leaders to arrange three-way consultations on ways to de-escalate the crisis. Barroso's office said details will be worked out diplomatically.

Ukraine said it was organizing its own aid shipment to the war-wracked separatist region of Luhansk.

Complicating the dispute over the dueling missions, Ukraine said Thursday that it has gained control over a key town near Luhansk city, thereby giving it the means to block the presumed route that the Russian convoy would take to the city.

The town, Novosvitlivka, lies about 25 miles from the border, so if the Russian trucks did enter the country, they potentially could unload somewhere other than city itself.

Ukraine suspects the convoy could be a pretext for a Russian military invasion or further support for the pro-Russian rebels.

While the convoy stopped short of the border, the Guardian newspaper reported seeing a separate convoy of Russian military vehicles crossing into Ukraine late Thursday.

President Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, addressed hundreds of lawmakers Thursday in the Black Sea resort of Yalta in Crimea. He did not speak specifically about the convoy, but said Russia's goal was "to stop bloodshed in Ukraine as soon as possible."