Rail link with occupied Donbas may be restored, Ukrainian foreign minister says

“I do not rule out passenger or freight traffic. We have much work to do for restoration of this link. Of course, if there is infrastructure, it is not difficult to figure out where the motorways and the railways are, and where the crossing is possible. But not only. There are certain areas that are not directly related to crossings,” Prystaiko said in an interview with UNIAN, answering a question about the possibility of opening a railway entry-exit checkpoint for passenger traffic in eastern Ukraine.

At the Normandy Four summit, the leaders expressed their wish that new possible entry-exit checkpoints in eastern Ukraine be identified within a period of 30 days. Prystaiko said that the obvious candidate for opening new entry-exit checkpoint is Zolote, where the checkpoint had been constructed in the Ukrainian side long ago.

“We already have positive experience, for example, of Chonhar [entry-exit checkpoint]. Great work was done there, the checkpoint was built to high standards. We can multiply this experience by opening new checkpoints,” he said.

The rail link with the occupied areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions was suspended in March 2017.

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