We have no one to negotiate with in Kyiv - DPR representative
Ukraine has no plans to return home its prisoners of war until a politically advantageous moment comes.
DPR Human Rights Commissioner Daria Morozova told Izvestia about this, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“We confirm our readiness to conduct an exchange, but, unfortunately, Ukraine does not. The process is completely politicized, and we cannot even make any forecasts by date. Kyiv uses this issue for its PR program, either before the New Year, or before the elections. Even Leonid Kuchma once said that there is no point in waiting for an exchange before the elections,” Morozova said.
According to her, the absence of authorized representatives of Ukraine at meetings in the humanitarian subgroup in Minsk also speaks of the reluctance to solve this problem.
“At the last meeting there was again one expert and a temporarily appointed representative who remained silent throughout the negotiations. We attend every meeting and are ready to conduct an exchange - even tomorrow. But we don’t even have anyone to negotiate with. We cannot discuss the nuances, carry out work to search for missing persons, and so on. I think they don’t come on purpose, because then the issue can be discussed constructively, but at the moment the Ukrainian side is not interested in this. In order not to lose face, they simply ignore the meetings,” noted the DPR Ombudsman.
She emphasized that after the last exchange on December 27, 2017, Ukraine did not respond to a single letter or proposal from the DPR.
“In addition, the previous stage of the prisoner exchange has still not actually been completed, since the people who returned home have not been procedurally cleared in Ukraine, despite the agreements reached between the parties on November 15, 2017. Criminal cases are still open against many in Ukraine, and Kyiv, despite promises and agreements, has not sent an official letter confirming that the returned Donbass residents do not face persecution from Ukraine. This led to examples when people, after an exchange, visited relatives in territory controlled by Kyiv and were again detained,” added Morozova.
As PolitNavigator reported, Ukrainian human rights activists told how the SBU kidnaps people for exchange on captured soldiers.
In addition, the SBU arrests pensioners from the DPR and includes them on the lists for exchange.
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