MP Iryna Herashchenko: Ukraine ready to pardon over 60 criminals to swap them for hostages held in occupied Donbas
Ukraine is ready to hold the next stage of the release immediately and pardon all those who fall within the scope of the Minsk agreements, for the sake of the release of Ukrainian hostages.
As reported by Censor.NET citing Ukrinform, Ukraine's representative in the humanitarian subgroup of the Trilateral Contact Group, First Deputy Chairwoman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Iryna Herashchenko, wrote on social media on Thursday that Ukraine is ready to pick up on Nov. 27 all those convicted for criminal offenses before the beginning of the war in Donbas and who are now imprisoned in occupied areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and want to serve their terms in the government-controlled areas.
According to her, Verkhovna Rada Human Rights Commissioner Liudmyla Denisova and representatives of her office are ready to take these convicts on Nov. 27 at a checkpoint that is to be chosen at a meeting of the humanitarian subgroup on Nov. 22.
As for the hostages, Herashchenko said, Ukrainian representatives remind Russians at a meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group and at a meeting of the humanitarian subgroup that they are waiting for answers to the proposal to exchange Russian mercenaries convicted in Ukraine for political prisoners of the Kremlin.
"We have been waiting for this answer for nine months, and we are ready to pardon more than 60 criminals in exchange for the release of hostages from the Donbas. We are ready to hold the next stage of the release immediately and pardon all those who fall within the scope of the Minsk agreements, for the sake of the release of our guys," the lawmaker said.
