Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko says Ukrainian special representative for humanitarian issues in the Trilateral Contact Group, the leader of the social movement “Ukrainian Choice” Viktor Medvedchuk is most effective in addressing the issue of the release of Ukrainian hostages.
“We’ve tried to use various communication channels, starting with the military and ending with the church. And I must admit that the most effective was Viktor Medvedchuk. Why so? Because the decision to release [Ukrainian hostages kept in occupied Donbas and Ukrainians imprisoned in Russia] is made by [Russian President Vladimir] Putin in person,” Poroshenko said at a press conference in Kyiv on February 28.
During the negotiations in Minsk when the Minsk Agreements were drafted and concluded, the composition of the team proposed by him was known, and Medvedchuk was not there, Poroshenko said. “There is a so-called humanitarian group that deals exclusively with issues of the release of hostages; it is part of the Trilateral Contact Group. And indeed ex-chief of the Security Service of Ukraine [Valentyn Nalyvaichenko] appointed Viktor Medvedchuk as a representative in this group. I knew that, and I emphasize now – I will work with anyone who can effectively help at least one Ukrainian hostage return home,” he stressed.
The president said he was ready to negotiate with anyone who would help bring the Ukrainian hostages back to their homes, as well as deploy peacekeepers and bring peace to the Ukrainian land.
Poroshenko said he had met with Metropolitan Onufriy, the current head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate), not long ago as there was information that five hostages from Donetsk could be freed with assistance from the church, but it failed. “And I will continue seeking all channels of communication, including this one,” the president said.
