Ukraine denies arms shipment

The Ukrainian government has denied reports that it intended to supply weapons to Eritrea in violation of a UN arms embargo, the Ukrainian news agency UNIAN says. UNIAN quoted the deputy head of the Ukrainian foreign ministry’s press service, Serhiy Borodenkov, as saying that an aircraft belonging to the private Ukrainian company Volare had been hired by an Israeli company to transport military equipment from the Czech Republic to the former Soviet republic of Georgia, via Bulgaria. “The function of the Ukrainian plane was exclusively that of transportation,” he said. Borodenkov said that the Volare pilot had asked the permission of authorities at Bulgaria’s Burgas airport to fly on to Eritrea to pick up additional civil cargo for Georgia at the request of the Israeli client. “Unfortunately, the Volare company dispatcher demonstrated lack of professionalism [by] having requested permission to land in Asmara airport with a military cargo on board,” Borodenkov was quoted as saying. Borodenkov said that Ukraine was investigating the incident and would inform the UN Security Council’s Sanctions Committee of its findings. The UN embargo on arms sales to Ethiopia and Eritrea, imposed one year ago, will be allowed to expire at midnight on Wednesday, 16 May. However, the UN has said that it will continue to investigate any violations of the embargo alleged to have occurred prior to this date.