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Kiev demands release of 107 people in Donbass

Kiev reiterates its stance on ensuring safety in the combat operations area in the Donbass region

KIEV, August 3. /TASS/. The Ukrainian side has demanded the release of 107 prisoners during a meeting of the Contact Group on the settlement in the Donbass region, Darya Olifer, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s envoy at the Minsk talks Leonid Kuchma, said on Wednesday.

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"In total, we demand the release of 107 illegally detained persons," she wrote on her Facebook page. According to Olifer, Kiev also insists on the full-scale involvement of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in the process of releasing these people, including the permission to visit the detainees for its representatives.

Olifer also noted that Ukraine again raised the issue of opening the Zolotoye checkpoint in the Lugansk region, but no agreement was reached.

During the talks, Kiev reiterated its stance on ensuring safety in the combat operations area in the Donbass region, saying that it "remains a key issue for the full-fledged solution to political, humanitarian and socio-economic problems."

Russia’s envoy to the Contact Group, Boris Gryzlov, earlier said commenting on Wednesday’s talks that security issues should be addressed "in parallel with political issues."

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