The Ukrainian side intentionally creates a stalemate in the work of the humanitarian group. One gets the impression that the Kiev negotiators have been tasked not to come to an agreement, but, on the contrary, to drag out the negotiation process in all directions. And their behaviour during today’s meeting of the group is another proof of this.
Thus, we again did not receive any information from the Ukrainian side about the procedural “clearance” of 50 persons transferred to the DPR in 2019 and 2020. It should be reminded that for two years now Kiev has been evading the fulfilment of these procedural obligations, continuing the criminal prosecution of actually released citizens. As a result, the members of the humanitarian group are still unable to start discussing the next stages of the exchange.
Also, due to the fault of the Ukrainian side, it is not possible to achieve progress on the issue of creating a unified mechanism for searching for missing persons. Moreover, Kiev has actually politicized this extremely humane topic. Likewise, Ukraine continues to block consideration of the transfer of identified remains.
This position of our opponents nullifies all previous efforts and achievements of the humanitarian group, exacerbating the suffering of civilians.
The next meeting of the group will take place after the summer break, on 24 August. We expect Ukraine to finally stop wasting negotiating time on useless polemics and begin to take practical steps to address key humanitarian issues.
