Viktor Medvedchuk, the leader of the All-Ukrainian Public Movement Ukrainian Choice, said that over 600 people whose release is sought by representatives of some territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions are being held in the territory of Ukraine.

"I have worked on the release of illegally held persons since December 2014. Since then, I have organized the release of 402 people. The situation in the past few months has been the way it has been because hundreds of people, more than 600 people whose release is sought by Donetsk and Luhansk, are in the territory controlled by Kyiv. Kyiv is only seeking to get 108 people in exchange for the people illegally held in Donetsk and Luhansk. This difference means one thing: we changed the proportion at some point," Medvedchuk said in an interview with Radio Liberty.

There were times when ten to 30 people were released without an exchange and now representatives of some territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions are declining Kyiv's requests to exchange 50 people for 25, insisting on the adoption of the law on amnesty envisaged by the Minsk Agreements, he said.

Medvedchuk also said he is the only person conducting negotiations with Donetsk and Luhansk on the release of hostages.

"I have never insulted any representatives of the DPR and the LPR, any representatives of Russia, because I have to talk with them. The special thing is that I am the only person conducting negotiations on the issue of the release of illegally held persons. Not in Minsk - because there are a lot of people who are negotiating in Minsk, but in Minsk this issue is unfortunately not resolved - I am the only person conducting negotiations with the administrations of the self-proclaimed LPR and DPR, with the administration of the Russian Federation," Medvedchuk said.