US Praises Prisoner Swaps, Violence Decrease in Ukraine: State Department

WASHINGTON, December 30 (Sputnik) — The decrease in violence in Ukraine and prisoner exchanges between the conflicting sides are positive steps that may lead to the political solution of the crisis, US State Department Spokesperson Jeff Rathke said.

“We believe that these [prisoner] exchanges along with the decrease in violence are positive steps,” Rathke stated on Monday during a press briefing. “They are also an opportunity to advance the prospects for a lasting political solution consistent with the Minsk agreements.”

On December 26, the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) in eastern Ukraine handed over 145 prisoners to Kiev. Ukrainian forces then released 222 people to the DPR. The prisoner swap took place approximately 22 miles north of Donetsk.

Darya Morozova, human rights ombudsman from the DPR, told RIA Novosti by telephone on Monday that additional prisoner exchanges between Kiev and the DPR were to take place later on Monday.

“It will happen today,” Morozova said without giving a specific time for the exchange.

On December 27, Denis Pushilin, the DPR’s envoy at the Minsk peace talks, said the DPR had sent a request to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to inspect alleged cases of prisoner abuse by Kiev. According to Pushilin, some prisoners released by Kiev displayed evidence of torture on their bodies.

Kiev and the DPR agreed to the “all-for-all” prisoner exchange during a Contact Group meeting mediated by Russia and the OSCE in Minsk, Belarus on September 19. Since then, the conflicting sides have conducted several rounds of prisoner exchanges.