MINSK. Dec 20 (Interfax) - The Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine (TCG) has reaffirmed the need to conduct a prisoner exchange before the New Year and Christmas holidays in accordance with earlier agreements, Boris Gryzlov, Russia's envoy to the TCG, said at a meeting in Minsk on Wednesday.
"The Contact Group also expressed general commitment to the full implementation of the Minsk Agreements," Gryzlov told reporters.
The need for a ceasefire in Donbas starting at 00:00 on December 23 was also confirmed, he said.
"Primarily, it is necessary to unblock the work on political settlement," Gryzlov said.
He said that that work includes amnesty and legislative support of the enactment of the law on the special status of Donbas according to the "Steinmeier formula."
Going back to the issue of ceasefire, Gryzlov said the TCG had called for peace and calm in Donbas due to the upcoming Christmas and New Year holidays. In this regard and in accordance with earlier agreements, the group "confirmed its commitment to observe a comprehensive, lasting, and open-ended ceasefire starting at 00:00 on December 23, 2017," Gryzlov said.
He also said the issue was raised again of publishing or resuming relevant orders, including disciplinary measures for ceasefire violations.
Gryzlov said the TCG approved a schedule of work for 2018. Summing up the group's work in 2017, he said, "Our delegation in the contact group did what we could to ensure that the parties can observe the ceasefire and can make headway on the other points of the Minsk Agreements."
Unfortunately, the conflict did not end this year, Gryzlov said. He said this year began with the transport and economic blockade of Donbas, which was supported by Kyiv. "The ceasefire agreements were constantly violated, people were killed, including civilians," the politician said.
However, the number of "days of relative calm" increased dramatically thanks to the Minsk process and work on the contact line.
Gryzlov said he regrets that "the position of some Western politicians enables Kyiv to fail to fulfil its obligations under the internationally accepted Minsk Agreements." The obligation to disengage in Stanytsia Luhanska, which has still not been fulfilled by Kyiv, is one example, he said.
Gryzlov also said Kyiv had made the work of Russian representatives in the Joint Center for Control and Coordination (JCCC) impossible by the end of this year. "It's the result of planned actions taken by Kyiv, which were preceded by the barring of representatives of Donetsk and Luhansk from working in the JCCC," Gryzlov said.