Militants use hostages to blackmail Ukraine

At the talks in Minsk, the “DPR” and “LPR” terrorists announced the terms of hostage exchange, unacceptable for Ukraine, demanding amnesty for their fighters.

Representative of Ukraine in the sub-working group on humanitarian issues within the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk, MP Iryna Herashchenko posted this on Facebook.

"The militants announced in public the unacceptable conditions, being used to blackmail Ukraine with the issue of hostages for several months already. In fact, they overtly assumed responsibility for the failure of implementation of the Minsk Agreements, having linked two completely different points and questions. They are trying to link the release of our heroes to the amnesty for criminals," Herashchenko wrote.

In addition, the MP noted, the militants downgrade the number of the held hostages.

Herashchenko stressed that Ukraine's position remained firm: the unconditional release of all the hostages is the mandatory provision of the Minsk Agreements.

ol