KYIV. Jan 18 (Interfax) - The Russian side has rejected Kyiv's proposal to hold a joint session of the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) and its humanitarian subgroup on the issue of exchanging Ukrainians detained in Russia for Russians imprisoned in Ukraine, Iryna Herashchenko, first deputy speaker of the Verkhovna Rada and Ukraine's representative in the TCG's humanitarian subgroup.
Over the past month, the Ukrainian side has twice reached out to the OSCE moderators, requesting for such a meeting to be held, Herashchenko wrote on Facebook on Thursday afternoon. "Today [Russia's envoy to the TCG] Boris Gryzlov rejected this initiative as well," Herashchenko said.
In this context, she recalls that last year she sent 13 official letters to Russian representatives and Gryzlov personally, proposing to return 23 Russians to Moscow in exchange for Ukrainian detainees. In those letters Herashchenko mentioned the names of Russian prisoners and enclosed lists of individuals offered for an exchange and statements received from Russian convicts. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry sent a relevant note to the Russian Foreign Ministry last summer.
"There was no reply to a single letter of ours," she said.
"Representatives of CADLR [Certain Areas of Donetsk and Luhansk Regions] at the humanitarian subgroup meeting today said they have never received the lists that we repeatedly sent them late last year. But then they remembered receiving the letters but said [....] that 'the letters could not be opened'," she said.
The Ukrainian side's proposals are the following: a handover of convicted Russians to Moscow in exchange for returning Ukrainians to Kyiv, an immediate release of Ukrainian sailors detained in the Kerch Strait incident, as prisoners of war, without any conditions; the release of Ukrainians held in CADLR in exchange for the release of prisoners representing the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic, she said.
"We once again presented our proposals. I wish the OSCE coordinators showed more active attitudes and took the side of truth," Herashchenko said.
She posted a few more lines on Facebook later in the day to reveal that the Ukrainian side was set to hand over to Russia 25 Russian nationals currently held in Ukrainian prisons "in late January - early February, on any date as determined" in exchange for Ukrainian prisoners and to exchange, upon agreement with Donetsk and Luhansk, 19 Ukrainians for approximately 70 convicted militiamen on the same day.
However, Kyiv's opponents at the TCG meeting rejected the proposal, she said.
The Ukrainian side at the TCG once again brought up the issue of the immediate release of five teenagers from Yasynuvata, who have been held in a Donetsk prison for three years, she added.
"I hope there will be some progress at least on this issue. We voiced the demand that they be freed at the TCG meeting as well," Herashchenko said.