The Ukrainian party to the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) has sent letters to the OSCE suggesting that the TCG’s humanitarian subgroup meet in a video conference on December 27 to discuss Kyiv’s initiatives with regard to the release of hostages and political prisoners, of which the OSCE has also been informed.
“There has just been a meeting with Ukraine’s representative to the TCG (Yevhen Marchuk) and representatives of the humanitarian subgroup [SBU and Ministry of Temporarily Occupied Territories representatives]. A decision was made to conduct a video conference of the humanitarian group to discuss once again ways to release [Ukrainian] hostages and political prisoners… We suggest they be released in 22/22 and 72/19 formats on January 5 so that 150 people would be able to join their families for [Orthodox] Christmas and could go to church to pray for peace,” Iryna Gerashchenko, Ukraine’s representative to the TCG’s humanitarian subgroup, wrote on Facebook on December 21.
She said the Ukrainian party has sent the OSCE the following message: “We have carefully analyzed all the lists and are ready to pardon and hand over to the occupied territories in Donbas 72 separatists in exchange for 19 hostages held in the occupied territories.”
Gerashchenko said that for the sake of releasing its citizens, Ukraine is ready for a broader compromise and has proved this in practice.
“We are also ready to immediately hand over 22 Russian citizens detained and convicted in Ukraine to the Russian Federation. Recently, a Russian national died in one of our prisons. He was on the list of 23 people whom Ukraine had long been ready to transfer to the Russian Federation. This person could have been home for a long time. … However, the Russian Federation has refused to take its citizens back. We encourage the Russian party to reconsider its stance on its citizens and take them back in exchange for 22 political prisoners of the Kremlin to be given to Ukraine,” Gerashchenko said.
She said respective letters with a proposal to have a video conference of the humanitarian group on December 27 have already been sent to the OSCE.
