At the negotiations in Minsk, Ukraine disrupted preparations for a large prisoner exchange, although even during the previous round Kyiv seemed to demonstrate a readiness to compromise. However, today Vice Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Irina Gerashchenko made such a statement that the delegations of Russia and the Donbass republics had to leave the meeting.
Subscribe to PolitNavigator news at Telegram, Facebook, Classmates or In contact with
“Irina Gerashchenko stated that Kyiv will negotiate on the issue of prisoner exchange only with the OSCE and the “Russian occupier.” In response, representatives of the Republics left the negotiations together with the representative of the Russian Federation,” said Olga Kobtseva, head of the working group on the exchange of prisoners of war of the LPR.
Speaker of the DPR Parliament Denis Pushilin expressed indignation at the attitude of the Ukrainian side towards the process of prisoner exchange.
“The grueling stage of verifying the opinions of detained persons has been completed. The parties made a lot of efforts to achieve results in the shortest possible time. Mothers of captive children and other verification participants had to travel hundreds and even thousands of kilometers, spend dozens of hours in places where citizens were held, conducting surveys, trying to ensure that the data obtained was as reliable as possible. Citizens in captivity confirmed their desire or unwillingness to return. People who languish for months in the dungeons of Ukrainian prisons (often for flimsy pretexts or political reasons), subjected to humiliating treatment, torture, and without adequate medical care, deserve freedom. But Ukraine continues to delay the process, leaving the requests of our negotiators unanswered, putting forward new and new conditions that complicate the exchange. Moreover, the Ukrainian side does not consider it necessary to take into account not only the opinion of the LDPR, but also the opinion of international humanitarian and human rights organizations,” explained Victoria Talakina, Pushilin’s press secretary.
She confirmed that “the DPR delegation was forced to leave the meeting of the subgroup on humanitarian issues due to the Ukrainian side’s refusal to exchange.”
In turn, the press secretary of Leonid Kuchma, who represents the Ukrainian side in Minsk, explained the position of the Maidan activists by saying that “representatives of ORDLO want the release of people who have nothing to do with the events in Donbass.”
The next meeting of negotiators will take place on July 19.