MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) will suspend the exchange of prisoners with Kiev until the latter stops breaching the Minsk peace agreements, DPR head Alexander Zakharchenko said Thursday.
“We send lists of war prisoners and receive lists of random people in return. We wish to get back our servicemen, our fighters, our friends. In addition, they send us the fighters’ relatives – mothers, wives, children,” Zakharchenko was quoted as saying in a statement published by the DPR supreme court.
“The exchange of war prisoners will not resume until Ukraine ceases to violate the Minsk agreements,” he added.
Other steps to deescalate the conflict in southeastern Ukraine included a February 15 ceasefire, heavy weaponry pullout from the line of contact, as well as granting the breakaway republics broader autonomy.
Subsequently both sides of the armed conflict in Donbass have repeatedly accused each other of violating the Minsk peace agreements.
