Today, on September 6, a regular meeting of the humanitarian subgroup took place in Minsk. Nearly all discussion was devoted to matter of great importance – the exchange. We believe that delaying the exchange process by Ukraine causes suffering not only to the detainees, but to all their relatives as well. Moreover, the Ukrainian government continues to openly and ironically spit in the face of Donbass people, adopting amnesty laws for participants of the so-called “ATO”, contrary to the Package of Measures signed by the Normandy format. Paragraph 5 of the Minsk Agreements could have been fulfilled a long time ago. But Ukrainian leaders do not want to make any steps towards the Republics. Also, the exchange lists were discussed, and we again faced the problem: official representatives of Kiev divide the lists into categories, which contradicts paragraph 6 of the Minsk Agreements. I asked Ukraine plenipotentiaries not to open Pandora’s box, and to fulfill obligations undertaken instead.
Our position remains unchanged: no one has the right to neglect the provisions of the Minsk agreements and divide people into categories. We will do our best to free our compatriots. I would like to note that we have not received any official proposals related to exchange from our opponents in specific figures. We hope that the Ukrainian side will no longer use selective approach for implementation of the provisions the Package of Measures, and stop dividing people into categories. As soon as this requirement is met, the long-awaited exchange will occur, because we have long been ready for a full exchange.
