Russia welcomes the progress in the Kiev-Donbas detainee exchange, which was achieved following the latest Normandy Four summit in Paris, the Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said on Thursday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd January, 2020) Russia welcomes the progress in the Kiev-Donbas detainee exchange, which was achieved following the latest Normandy Four summit in Paris, the Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said on Thursday.
On December 29, the first prisoner exchange in two years between Kiev and the self-proclaimed republics of Donbas took place, during which nearly 200 people returned home.
"We welcome the certain progress in [crisis] settlement, achieved in 2019, which was related to the preparations and holding of the Normandy-format summit in Paris. As it is known, Kiev was forced to fulfill the decisions made at the previous Normandy-format meetings prior to the summit, namely, fix on paper the Steinmeier formula and ensure forces disengagement in three areas along the contact line: stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske. After the Paris summit, new steps in the right direction were made: on December 29, Kiev, Donetsk and Luhansk held an exchange of held persons," Zakharova said at a briefing.
