Kyiv insists on the complete fulfillment of the Minsk agreements by all sides and is ready to search for compromises in the release of detained Ukrainian citizens, Ukrainian representative to the humanitarian subgroup of the Trilateral Contact Group for Ukraine Iryna Gerashchenko has said.
“Minsk is today. No matter who represents Moscow, it is most important to us how we represent Ukraine. The reinforcement of the Russian mission only unites our small delegation and our position remains clear and unwavering: the Minsk agreements must be fulfilled, including by Russia and the militants it controls,” Gerashchenko wrote on Facebook on Jan. 13 morning.
There must be no Russian troops in Donbas, and Ukraine must get control over the border, Gerashchenko said.
She also said that the Donbas elections must be held “only under Ukrainian laws, with the OSCE monitoring, and after the disarming.”
According to Gerashchenko, the amnesty was possible only after the reopening of Ukrainian courts in the territories which were currently beyond Kyiv’s control, and the Verkhovna Rada would play the key role in a decision on the amnesty bill. “Minsk is only a debate platform,” Gerashchenko said. “Besides, there are grave crimes which do not fall under the amnesty.”
Speaking of the humanitarian aspect, she said that the Ukrainian side was ready to search for compromises for the sake of the release of Ukrainians and insisted on unhampered access of humanitarian missions to Donbas.
“The ceasefire regime must be fully honored. Every violation must be recorded by the OSCE SMM in a determined and clear manner. And this will require the mission’s access to all territories, up to the border, and the precise fulfillment of its tasks rather than ‘monitoring’ of cities in the rear. This is our position,” Gerashchenko said in conclusion.
The Trilateral Contact Group is planned to have the first meeting of 2016 in Minsk on Wednesday, Jan. 13.
