The public statements that official representatives of Kiev to the Contact Group on the settlement of the crisis in Donbass have recently made do not stand up to criticism, Commissioner for Human Rights in the DPR Darya Morozova claims.
“The incumbent Ukrainian speakers utter not just incorrect theses, but mere lies and gibberish. A striking example is the statement from head of the Ukrainian delegation Leonid Kravchuk about the situation with the exchange of detainees. According to him, Ukraine sent the DPR and the LPR its list for the exchange a month ago. It allegedly included 11 people, after whose return Kiev intended to conduct the final stage of the exchange procedure based on the all-for-all formula. At the same time, Mr. Kravchuk reproached the republics that we never provided our lists. When reading such statements, one gets the impression that the members of the Ukrainian delegation live in some alternative and not very sane reality. I will explain why.
First, we have not received any exchange lists from the Ukrainian side either a month, a week, or a day ago.
Secondly, at the moment we are searching for 103 people in Ukraine and we regularly send requests to our vis-а-vis to get information about these people. It is important for us to understand their status: place of detention, reason, state of health, etc. Only with this information can we form our list of people for the exchange. However, despite numerous requests we made, we have not received any information from Kiev about any of the 103 people in question since the beginning of 2020.
Third, I urge the current representatives of the Ukrainian delegation to carefully read the documents that have been signed earlier by the Contact Group members and on which the entire Minsk negotiation process is based in principle. Then, perhaps, Mr. Kravchuk will not be making absurd statements about preparations for the final exchange under the all-for-all formula.
The fact is that it is simply impossible to exchange “everyone for everyone” before the conflict in Donbass is over. That is why an agreement was reached to work according to the formula “all identified for all identified”.
In addition, the need to ensure the final stage of the exchange under the all-for-all formula is enshrined in Clause 6 of the Complex of Measures. But it can be implemented only after the previous clauses of this document are fulfilled. In particular, the fifth one, which provides for the adoption of a law prohibiting the prosecution and criminal punishment of persons involved in the events in Donbass.However, Ukraine is evading its obligations on the implementation of the Complex of Measures in every way possible. As the result, all essential areas of the negotiation process at the Minsk venue are now disabled, including the exchange of detainees. What lists and formulas can we talk about in this situation?
I understand why Ukraine is resorting to informational provocations. This is an attempt to somehow whitewash itself and shift the blame onto others for disrupting the new phase of the exchange, which many had been expecting to take place before the end of the year.
Once again, I remind the representatives of the Kiev delegation that in order to discuss and plan new phases of the exchange, Ukraine first needs to finish the previous phases of the procedure by completing the procedural clearance and ending the criminal prosecution of 50 citizens who were transferred to the DPR in 2019-2020. At the same time, productive dialogue is possible only after the Contact Group agrees on a road map for the implementation of items of the Complex of Measures and after it is approved at the level of the Ukrainian parliament and the president. This will demonstrate Ukraine’s commitment to the Minsk Agreements and Kiev’s peaceful intentions towards the republics.
There is a lot of work to be done, so Ukraine should point its efforts in a constructive direction rather than waste them on futile attempts to manipulate public opinion through the media,” Darya Morozova said.
