Ukrainian members of the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) have reaffirmed Kyiv's readiness for a swap of detainees with the self-proclaimed "Donetsk People's Republic" ("DPR") and "Luhansk People's Republic" ("LPR") in the "all-for-all" format.
"Ukraine also reaffirmed its willingness to release detainees in the 'all-for-all' format as soon as possible and stressed that it is waiting for the written confirmation from the other side," the press service of the Office of the President said after TCG consultations held as a video conference on July 8.
Read alsoEU expects Russia to end pressure on Crimean Tatars
The parties also agreed on 13 sites in Ukraine's east for landmine clearance. The OSCE, a party to the TCG, acknowledged significant progress in developing an updated demining plan. "As part of this work and in pursuance of the agreements of the Paris Summit of the Normandy Four, 13 demining sites were preliminarily agreed upon with the possibility of further processing of the next seven sites," the press service said.
In order to further intensify work on security issues, the Ukrainian delegation initiated an additional meeting of the relevant TCG working group on July 14.
Ukraine also received safety guarantees for flights of civil aircraft of its State Emergencies Service (SES) for eliminating wildfires in Luhansk region.
"During a discussion, the Ukrainian party to the TCG insisted on the immediate establishment of a sustainable and comprehensive ceasefire, in particular in view of the situation resulting from the fires in Luhansk region. This request was fully supported by the TCG coordinator – the OSCE representative and agreed by the participants of the meeting. Thanks to the active position of the Ukrainian delegation, security guarantees were obtained for flights of SES civilian aircraft to eliminate fires in Luhansk region near the contact line," it said.