The process of prisoner exchange between Donbass and Kiev took a few steps back, told DPR Ombudsman Daria Morozova to Interfax.
“First, we haven’t received any guarantee that the mechanism of procedural clearance will be implemented which has been one of the main priorities of the DPR. At the moment, we are awaiting this guarantee from the leadership of Ukraine,” she said.
Second, Kiev unilaterally conducted verification of people subject to the exchange. “They did not coordinate it with us within the negotiation process,” Morozova highlighted.
According to her, they initially agreed that the verification of persons subject to the exchange would transpire at the line of contact in Donbass. However, the Ukrainian side has changed the conditions at the previous meeting in Minsk on 1 October. “We are categorically against the results of the unilateral verification. The Donetsk People’s Republic will not recognize them. Our assumption is that the people (subject to the exchange – Ed.) have undergone psychological pressure,” she said.
She expressed hope that at the next meeting in Minsk on October 15, the Ukrainian side will provide guarantees for the procedural clearance of detainees and will reconsider the verification agreements directly on the contact line, which have been discussed earlier by the parties.
In early October, Morozove also complained that Kiev, according to her, protracted the exchange process through the unilateral verification.
Earlier, the Foreign Minister of Ukraine Vadym Prystaiko announced a large-scale exchange of detainees in the period between 7 and 13 October, without specifying the details. On 4 October, Director of the Centre for Political Conjuncture Aleksei Chesnakov told Interfax that “Prystaiko’s information was misleading.”
