EU, US call on Russia to release Ukrainian political prisoners

The European Union and the United States have confirmed their support for the integrity of Ukraine, condemned the aggression of the Russian Federation in Ukraine and called on Moscow to release Ukrainian political prisoners.

The chairs of the EU and US delegations made the relevant statements at the opening ceremony of the OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting in Warsaw, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"We continue to support the national integrity of Ukraine and urge all the parties to comply with the Minsk agreements," said a representative of the EU delegation.

He expressed concern about the situation in Crimea and the attitude to national minorities on the peninsula, particularly to the Crimean Tatars.

"We call on Russia to release all the illegally detained and convicted Ukrainian citizens in Russia, in particular Oleg Sentsov," the chair of the EU delegation stressed.

He also noted that Russia should influence the puppet "republics" controlled by them so that they also fulfill their obligations.

The chair of the US delegation called on Russia to release Oleg Sentsov and other Ukrainian political prisoners held by the Russian Federation.

The sanctions against Russia will be in effect until Moscow fulfils all the obligations under the Minsk accords, while the sanctions imposed for the annexation of Crimea will be in effect until Russia returns the peninsula to Ukraine, the representative of the United States highlighted.

ol