Donetsk, Jun 8 - DAN. The parties to the Donbass conflict might resume the prisoner verification procedure within the next two days, DPR ombudswoman Darya Morozova told Donetsk News Agency on Thursday.
“During the difficult negotiations on Wednesday, Ukraine had to admit that verification should continue. Today, the subgroup coordinator will circulate the proposal which we should confirm. It was not approved at yesterday’s talks,” she said. “Mrs Valeria Lutkovskaya (Ukrainian ombudswoman - eds DAN), is ready to start working as early as tomorrow. The verification mechanism will be launched as soon as we secure all approvals. This might happen tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.”
The DPR ombudswoman said the new verification phase would differ from the previous one in that the detainees would be questioned in a Skype conference. Ukraine pledged to provide centres where verification will be carried out.
On Wednesday, DPR representatives at the humanitarian subgroup meeting in Minsk managed to secure Ukraine’s consent to resuming the verification procedure earlier cut short by Kiev and completing it before the next round of talks on 21 June.
Verification determines if the prisoners, upon their release, wish to stay in Ukraine or in Donbass Republics. It was discussed for a long time in the Belarussian capital as part of the accords on all-for-all prisoner exchange and amnesty for all Donbass conflict participants.*jk