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Donetsk republic official says prisoner swap unlikely before yearend

"The Ukrainian side is not ready to cease criminal proceedings and hold an amnesty, as well as to carry out an exchange of military in the format set in the Minsk memorandum," Darya Morozova said
Prisoners swap (archive) TASS/Valeriy Sharifulin
Prisoners swap (archive)
© TASS/Valeriy Sharifulin

MOSCOW, December 24. /TASS/. The prisoner exchange in the "all for all" format is hardly possible before the end of the year, an ombudswoman of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic said in a statement on Thursday.

"The Ukrainian side is not ready to cease criminal proceedings and hold an amnesty, as well as to carry out an exchange of military in the format set in the Minsk memorandum," Darya Morozova said.

"That is why, we can hardly expect an exchange of military in the ‘all for all’ format happening before the New Year," the Donetsk news agency quoted her as saying.

Morozova also said the Ukrainian side was fully ignoring the Package of Measures for the implementation of the Minsk accords of February 12. "At each meeting in Minsk I am putting emphasis on a need to urgently pass a law on amnesty and stop persecutions of active participants of the events in Donbass," Morozova said.

She also said that "about a dozen people go missing weekly on the territory controlled by the Ukrainian authorities".

She said the DPR was ready to implement the Minsk-2 agreements. "We are ready to meet the agreements, but taking into consideration the above facts, the date and terms of a swap, as well as an amnesty depend on the Ukrainian side," she said.

The official also noted that no progress on these issues was reached within eight months since the humanitarian sub-group was established.