Talks on prisoner release underway in Minsk - Zelensky

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that work is underway at the meetings of the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk on the stages and timing of the return of all captured Ukrainians.

He said this at a joint press conference with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto in Kyiv on Thursday, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"We will not waste a single day now, waiting for a meeting in the Normandy format. We have meetings of the Trilateral [Contact] Group in Minsk. [...] At the trilateral meetings in Minsk, we discuss the timing and stages of the return of all our Ukrainian prisoners," Zelensky said.

He also recalled that a map for the implementation of the Minsk Agreements is being worked out, with clear terms.

Zelensky said earlier that there is currently no specific date for a meeting of the leaders of the Normandy Four countries and that Ukraine insists on holding such a meeting in September.

op