MOSCOW - Moscow is hopeful that the trilateral Contact Group's latest consultations, which began in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, on Dec. 24, will help resolve the problem of humanitarian aid deliveries to south-eastern Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said.
“I hope that the current round of Minsk meetings, which began on Dec. 24, will produce a result in terms of consolidating this part of the Minsk agreements, as well as in terms of securing an understanding and practical steps toward “all-for-all” exchanges of POWs,” Lavrov said in an interview with the Kommersant newspaper on Dec. 25.
“We have long been calling for it. It is imperative to agree upon these lists. We are ready to assist with this work. We are ready to do everything we can and we will do it. But, beyond any doubt, such agreements should be reached directly between representatives of the Kyiv authorities and the militia,” the Russian minister said.
Hopefully, the Minsk meetings will also help tackle all difficulties surrounding humanitarian aid deliveries to Ukraine’s south-eastern regions, he said.
“I very much hope that the Minsk negotiations will resolve all problems that are standing in the way of deliveries of humanitarian aid, which is not only Russian,” he said.
