DONETSK. May 22 (Interfax) - The militia of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and the Ukrainian army may swap prisoners next week, Ukrainian Representative to the Joint Control and Coordination Center (JCCC) promoting ceasefire and stabilization in Donbas Col. Andriy Leshchynsky has said.
"A prisoner exchange is possible next week. We will keep our fingers crossed and hope that the guys will be able to go home," he told reporters on Friday.
Also, the JCCC "has been doing everything in its power to alleviate tensions in the Donetsk airport area, consistent with the Minsk agreements," he said.
Ukrainian volunteers are searching for the bodies of deceased servicemen, Leshchynsky said. "Ukrainian volunteers are conducting their search for bodies in many districts. Neither side is impeding their efforts," he said.
The colonel claimed ongoing tensions in the areas of Pisky, Avdiivka, Spartak and Zhabycheve.
In turn, the DPR said normalization could be achieved at the Donetsk airport if Ukraine abstained from making reckless statements.
"The situation will normalize if the Ukrainian president abstains from reckless statements. The ball is in Ukraine's court," Eduard Basurin, a senior representative of the DPR Defense Ministry, told reporters on Friday.
The self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) said earlier today that it intended to transfer to Kyiv the bodies of two Ukrainian servicemen who died fighting for Donetsk airport.
"Reportedly, there is a place where two bodies are lying. They will be taken to the morgue and transferred to the Ukrainian side," Lilia Radionova of the DPR Defense Ministry's POW Committee told reporters.