“Release of hostages and political prisoners, demilitarization of the Azov-Black Sea region and a unilateral release of the 24 prisoners of war remain in the focus of attention of Ukrainian negotiators in Minsk," said the First Deputy Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Iryna Herashchenko during a joint briefing with a representative of Ukraine in the TCG Yevhen Marchuk
Featuring Yevhen Marchuk, a TCG’s representative of Ukraine, and representatives of parliamentary factions and groups, at the Parliament of Ukraine, there took place on December 20 a sitting of the informal group “The Minsk Platform”, chaired by Iryna Herashchenko, the First Deputy Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, a representative of Ukraine in the Trilateral Contact Group on a peaceful settlement of the situation in the East of Ukraine.
The conferees discussed the pressing issues of the Minsk process and dwelt in detail upon the results of the last - in 2018 - round of the negotiations.
Iryna Herashchenko and Yevhen Marchuk informed that Ukraine's representatives had again and again proposed to release the Donbas-held hostages in the format "66 vs 19", as well as to transfer to representatives of the Russian Federation 23 citizens of Russia detained for committing crimes against Ukraine, against the release of 23 Kremlin's political prisoners. However, the Russian side refused this initiative.
According to I. Herashchenko, the Russian side in Minsk has also blocked other initiatives tabled to free persons who have health problems.
The First Vice-Speaker then stressed that the representatives of the Russian Federation are not at all interested in the fate of their citizens.
During the discussion, the Ukrainian negotiators also noticed that the holding of the so-called "special elections" on November 11 in the occupied Donbas, not recognized by the world, had significantly deteriorated the politico-diplomatic dialogue in Minsk.
The participants of the meeting also canvassed the security situation in the Sea of Azov and the blockade of ports in Mariupol and Berdiansk. The Ukrainian side insists upon the immediate release of the 24 Ukrainian prisoners of war.
Yevhen Marchuk apprised that the Ukrainian delegation in Minsk had demanded demilitarization of the Azov and Black Seas as well as the Kerch Strait, and suggested setting up an OSCE SMM permanent monitoring point in Kerch.
The dignitary also elaborated on the complexity of the TCG security sub-group’s agreements in terms of withdrawal of forces and introduction of a state of ceasefire in the Donbas.
According to him, on December 27, 2018, there will be a video-conference of the security sub-group to discuss launching a Christmas and New Year armistice there.