The leaders of the United States and Germany on Friday slammed the entry of a Russian humanitarian aid convoy into Ukraine, warning of "a dangerous escalation" of the Ukraine crisis.

In their phone conversation, U.S. President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel called the incident "a further provocation and a violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity" on Russia's part, the White House said in a statement.

They urged Russia to recall its convoy from Ukraine, it added.

Russian media said about 130 trucks of the Russian convoy had entered Ukraine without escort of the International Committee of the Red Cross, with some having reached Lugansk, a rebel-held city that the Ukrainian forces are trying to recapture.

Ukraine called the move "a direct invasion," while Russia said it was a result of intolerance of Kiev's deliberate delay.

Further delay of Moscow's humanitarian mission would have been "unacceptable," Russian President Vladimir Putin told Merkel over the phone on Friday.

Russia had been urging Ukraine to let in its convoy over the past week, while Kiev and the West were wary of Moscow's true intentions.

Eastern Ukraine is undergoing a humanitarian crisis as clashes between Ukrainian government troops and pro-independence rebels have continued for months and claimed more than 2,000 lives.

Obama and Merkel stressed the importance of a bilateral ceasefire "accompanied by closure of the border and effective border monitoring," the White House said.

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