Donbas Self-Proclaimed Republics To Hand Over 4 Detainees To Kiev On Friday - Envoy

The self-proclaimed republics of the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas will hand over four people who have been detained in the course of the conflict with Kiev to Ukrainian authorities in Minsk on Friday, which will become the first step toward a future full-scale exchange of detainees, Kiev's representative for humanitarian affairs at the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine, Viktor Medvedchuk, said on Thursday

MINSK (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th June, 2019) The self-proclaimed republics of the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas will hand over four people who have been detained in the course of the conflict with Kiev to Ukrainian authorities in Minsk on Friday, which will become the first step toward a future full-scale exchange of detainees, Kiev's representative for humanitarian affairs at the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine, Viktor Medvedchuk, said on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, the representative held a meeting with the leaders of Donbas's Donetsk and Luhansk self-proclaimed republics in the Belarusian capital.

"I want to express my sincere gratitude to [leader of the Donetsk People's Republic] Denis Vladimirovich [Pushilin] and [head of the Luhansk People's Republic] Leonid Ivanovich [Pasechnik] for this unilateral act, which is very important for the Ukrainian citizens who ... will be released tomorrow [June 28]," Medvedchuk told reporters after the meeting.

When asked when the exchange would take place, the envoy said that the detainees would be handed over in Minks, adding that the location and the exact time of the meeting would be announced later.

"We came to conclusion that this [unilateral release of detainees to Kiev] is appropriate in the current situation, when the exchange process has been, in fact, put on hold for a year and a half. We hope that this step, the release of four persons, will allow us to stimulate Ukraine so that finally, in some foreseeable future, we will be able to come to the exchange of all registered [detainees] for all [other] registered [detainees]," Medvedchuk added.

According to Medvedchuk, there are three military personnel and one civilian among the detainees who are going to be released.

New Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during his inauguration speech in late May that he was ready to engage in dialogue with Donbas, but the first step toward it would have to be the release of detainees on both sides.

Donbas has been engaged in an armed conflict with Kiev since 2014. Donetsk and Luhansk have refused to recognize the Ukrainian authorities that came to power that year as a result of what Donbas residents considered to be a coup.

The Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine serves as one of the platforms aimed at helping settle the conflict.