The Donetsk People’s Republic reiterates its willingness to continue work on the exchange of detainees in strict compliance with the Package of Measures for the Implementation of the Minsk Agreements on the basis of the previously agreed formula “all confirmed for all confirmed”.
We oppose any attempts to politicize this process or to replace the issues of the agenda with those that go beyond the Minsk agreements. The issue of the transfer of DPR supporters held in the territory of Ukraine to other countries is not within the framework of the Minsk negotiating process. The Donetsk People’s Republic had included these persons in the exchange list before December 27, 2017, and they are still in this list. Therefore, it is unacceptable to discuss this issue under a different format.
Over the last year, the Ukrainian side has been blocking the work of the Humanitarian Subgroup. Therefore, the attempts to create the appearance of active work on the eve of the Christmas holidays, insisting on unmotivated exchange formulas, video conferencing and other work formats not provided for by the Minsk negotiating process, demonstrate that they are pursuing political interests in the run-up to elections and lead to a delay in the release of detainees.
We are categorically against any attempts to reshape the negotiation process to meet the ambitions of particular politicians and insist on resolving this issue only within the Minsk format.
