Donetsk mayor hopes hostages will be released after agreement on truce in east Ukraine

12:07, 24.06.2014 1 min read

Donetsk Mayor Oleksandr Lukyanchenko has said he appreciated the consultations held in the regional center on June 23 and hopes for the effectiveness of the announced ceasefire.

"I support this initiative and hope that this meeting will lead to fruitful negotiations... We know that a truce was declared. I hope that hostages and prisoners will be released during the truce. I also hope that in the period of truce we will be able to finish the repairs to the Siversky Donets-Donbas canal," he said at a press conference in Donetsk on Tuesday.

He also commented on the possibility of his appointment as head of Donetsk Regional State Administration, noting that he had declined the offer to lead the region.

"I'm a city mayor, so I rejected this initiative," he said, confirming that he had indeed been offered to become Donetsk regional governor, without specifying who made such an offer.