The Rada explained the desire of the DPR and LPR to hand over the prisoners to Medvedchuk
The self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR) wanted to transfer four detainees to Kiev through the leader of the Ukrainian party Opposition Platform – For Life, Viktor Medvedchuk, since the official Ukrainian authorities sabotage the exchange of prisoners. So this desire of the Donbass republics was explained by the deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Medvedchuk’s party member Renat Kuzmin.
“They turned to Medvedchuk because the Ukrainian authorities do not want, are not going to engage in the exchange of detainees. For a long time, exchanges have not been carried out, “Kuzmin explained.
According to him, the office of the President of Ukraine has not dealt with such issues for a long time, despite the existing Minsk agreements, while trying to shift the blame onto the other side.
The initiative to unilaterally transfer the detainees to Kiev through the mediation of Medvedchuk was previously made by the plenipotentiaries of the DPR and LPR in the contact group on Donbass, Natalia Nikonorova and Vladislav Deinogo. In response, the head of the Ukrainian delegation to the contact group on Donbass, Leonid Kravchuk, said that “the return of citizens is not a question of Medvedchuk, it is a question of Ukraine.” As a result, the process was stopped.
Relations between Kiev and Moscow deteriorated sharply after the reunification of Crimea with Russia in March 2014 and the outbreak of conflict in Donbass in April of the same year. Part of Donetsk and Luhansk regions declared independence. Kiev tried to return them by force, but to no avail. Ukraine accuses Russia of armed aggression and the occupation of Crimea and Donbass regions. The Kremlin rejects the claim.
Сообщение The Rada explained the desire of the DPR and LPR to hand over the prisoners to Medvedchuk появились сначала на supercar.ru.