Small but seemingly substantial bone to pick with this Interfax lead, which becomes clear with the second sentence. Neither the Ukrainian border service nor the Red Cross was given a chance to inspect all of these trucks, so they don't presume to know what all 145 of them are carrying. Such a detail is clearly unimportant to the Kremlin, but shouldn't Interfax and its journalists know better?
The Ukrainian State Border Service reports that 145 trucks carrying Russian humanitarian aid have crossed the Ukrainian border.
"One hundred and forty-five trucks have already crossed the border," the Border Service said, adding that Ukrainian border guards and customs officers were not admitted to clear the cargo.
Reuters flashes, citing Russian agency ITAR-TASS:
RUSSIA, UKRAINE PRESIDENTIAL CHIEFS OF STAFF AGREED ON NEED FOR SWIFT COMPLETION OF HUMANITARIAN CONVOY OPERATION-TASS CITES KREMLIN SPOKESMAN
RUSSIAN, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL CHIEFS OF STAFF SPOKE BY PHONE-TASS CITING KREMLIN SPOKESMAN
There are varying interpretations of statements from Belgrade regarding pressure from the European Union, which has urged aspiring member Serbia not to boost food exports to Russia to help offset import bans on Western food.
AP leads its story this way:
Despite pressure from the European Union, Serbia will not impose sanctions against Russia or curb its food exports to that country, Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said Friday....
Vucic said his government will accept EU's demands not to additionally subsidize those exports to Russia, but will not prevent Serbian companies from making new deals. Serbian officials have said that they hope to increase the food and agricultural exports to Russia from the current $170 million (128 million euros) a year to $300 million (226 million euros).
Reuters this way:
Serbia said on Friday it would not encourage exports to Russia, after the European Union urged the Balkan country not to exploit the Kremlin's ban on Western food imports.
From our Brussels correspondence, regarding Ukraine's association agreement and its Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area: