Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine, Minister for Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories Oleksiy Reznikov has commented on the latest stage of the exchange of held persons held with the Russian-controlled forces in Donbas on Thursday.
In a comment to Obozrevatel, the minister explained why of 20 Ukrainians handed back to Ukraine, only two are military servicemen captured by the enemy in the warzone.
Reznikov has admitted that terrorists are extremely reluctant to release Ukrainian troops.
"This is already a delicate matter of negotiations in the humanitarian team of the Trilateral Contact Group. But there are certain stages, 10, 20, and 30... We will bring them all back home," the minister stressed.
Also, Reznikov elaborated on the importance of non-disclosure of preparations to swaps.
"Any negotiations are like biddings. They are bargaining, looking at who is a valuable asset, reading media reports, posts on the internet. When stakes rise, this complicates the negotiation process," he explained.
"All negotiations should be held behind closed doors, there must be trust within the negotiation team. If this becomes the subject of disclosure – the release of swap lists, discussions of what's better or worse – it only complicates the work of the negotiation team," said the vice prime minister.
