Ukraine demands Russia immediately open Zolote checkpoint in Donbas

22.11.2018 14:39

Ukrinform

Ukraine demands that Russia and its puppets in Donbas immediately open the Zolote entry and exit checkpoint in the occupied part of Luhansk region, Ukraine's representative in the humanitarian subgroup of the Trilateral Contact Group, First Deputy Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Iryna Gerashchenko, has said on Facebook.

"Ukraine demands that ill-treatment of people in the occupied territories be immediately stopped so that they could freely travel to the territory controlled by the legitimate Ukrainian authorities. We demand the immediate opening of the Zolote checkpoint," she wrote.

Gerashchenko recalled that Ukraine opened the Zolote checkpoint on March 31, 2016, and spent UAH 2 million on its construction, with UAH 10,000 spent from the Ukrainian budget on the daily maintenance of the checkpoint. Instead, Russia and its "orcs," according to her, do not open the checkpoint from their side, because they are interested in a humanitarian disaster in Donbas.

"UAH 10 million has been spent on the maintenance of the checkpoint over these years. We are turning to our partners, including the OSCE, to pressure the Russian Federation and its puppets with the demand to open the Zolote checkpoint," Gerashchenko said.

She also noted that Ukraine expects from the OSCE SMM that the observer mission will work throughout Ukraine, including the occupied Donbas and Crimea.