Kyiv urges Moscow to swap prisoners '25 for 25'

12:25, 25.03.2019 1 min read

Kyiv has proposed to Moscow that 25 Ukrainians held in Russia be exchanged for 25 Russians convicted in Ukraine, Iryna Gerashchenko, the first deputy chairperson of the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada and Kyiv's representative in the humanitarian subgroup of the Trilateral Contact Group for Donbas, said on Monday.

"Yevhen Kyrylovych Marchuk, Ukraine's representative in the Trilateral Contact Group, and I have forwarded a letter to Russia's representative in the Trilateral Contact Group [Boris] Gryzlov proposing that hostages and political prisoners be freed," Gerashchenko said in an interview with Ukrainian TV channels.

"We have proposed that they immediately take 25 Russians in exchange for 25 Ukrainians," she said.

Kyiv also insists on returning 19 Ukrainian citizens held in the Donbas territories not controlled by the Ukrainian authorities in exchange for pardoning 72 people charged with separatism in Ukraine, Gerashchenko said.

Ukraine is seeking Russia's consent to its proposals, she said.