KIEV, Aug. 12 - A key presidential administration official in Kiev defended the government's handling of the Russian aid convoy situation.

He acknowledged that leaders of western countries had advised Ukraine to agree to accept assistance from Russia but also insisted that the humanitarian mission was international and carried out on Ukraine's initiative.

Ukraine will not let a Russian convoy carrying humanitarian aid enter its territory, said Valeriy Chaly, deputy head of Ukraine's Presidential Administration. "We do not consider any movement of Russian convoys on Ukrainian territory," he said at a briefing in Kiev on Tuesday.