KYIV. Dec 19 (Interfax) - The participants in the latest meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) for Donbas, which was also attended by representatives from certain districts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine, made serious efforts to enable a possible exchange of captives to happen before the end of this year, Darka Olifer, press secretary of second Ukrainian president and representative in the TCG Leonid Kuchma, said.
"The sides also gave very thorough consideration to issues surrounding an exchange of captives. They made serious efforts to pave the way for the release and exchange of persons held due to the conflict to take place before the end of the year, thus implementing the decisions on this issue adopted at the Normandy Four summit [in Paris on December 9]," Olifer wrote on Facebook on Wednesday evening following the TCG meeting in Minsk.
The participants in the meeting also confirmed their determination to bolster a truce in the region, she said.
"The Trilateral Contact Group with the participation of representatives of certain districts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine, given the recommendations stemming from the jointly agreed results of the Normandy format summit in Paris, and in line with its July 17, 2019 statement, reiterates its absolute commitment to the full and comprehensive implementation of the truce shored up by the fulfillment of all necessary measures to maintain this truce," Olifer said.