The contact group on the peaceful settlement of the crisis in eastern Ukraine at a meeting in Minsk on July 31 agreed to release at the first stage 20 persons captured in clashes in the Donbas, second Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma has said.

"Twenty people will be released in the near future," he said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

In addition, he said, "we got a promise to transfer personal belongings of those killed on board the Boeing."

"Additional routes for experts traveling to the crash site will be determined in the near future," he said, adding that "as far as I know, today at 0700 they again left out there."

The group is due to continue its work at the level of experts in Minsk on Friday.