DONETSK – The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine is ready, if formally requested, to help the Donbas conflicting parties exchange prisoners, Principal Deputy Chief Monitor Alexander Hug told Interfax on Nov. 17.
“The issues of exchanging detained persons are discussed in the Trilateral Contact Group’s working [sub]-group on humanitarian issues. The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission is not part of the working [sub]-group. However, the OSCE SMM is ready to help this process if an appropriate request is submitted and we are ready to send our patrols to perform the monitoring of the exchange by analogy of what is done with respect to other humanitarian operations supported by the SMM,” Hug said.
The OSCE SMM has not yet received any such requests, Hug said.
