Contact Group on Ukraine agrees to carry out prisoner swap soon

KIEV, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) -- The Trilateral Contact Group on the settlement of the situation in eastern Ukraine has agreed to carry out a prisoner swap between the conflicting sides in the near future, a spokesperson for Kiev's delegate said on Wednesday.

Darka Olifer, spokesperson for Ukraine's representative in the group Leonid Kuchma, wrote on Facebook that the Ukrainian authorities and pro-independence insurgents voiced the readiness to exchange their hostages by the winter holidays, which start in late December.

Kiev believes that insurgents are holding at least 162 Ukrainian soldiers and civilians captured in the conflict, while rebels estimate that the government is holding 309 of their supporters.

The trilateral contact group is a group of representatives from Ukraine, Russia, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) that was formed as means to facilitate a diplomatic resolution to the conflict in the Donbas region.

Insurgent representatives also participate in the meetings of the diplomatic group.

The prisoner swap is a key part of the Minsk ceasefire agreement designed to end the conflict in eastern Ukraine that has killed more than 10,000 people since April 2014. Enditem