Conflicting sides in Ukraine's Donbas to swap prisoners before New Year

MINSK, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- The conflicting parties in Donbas in east Ukraine promised to exchange prisoners before the New Year and Christmas holidays, said Martin Sajdik, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)'s special representative in the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine on Tuesday.

The parties discussed some technical matters relating to the prisoner exchange, but have not set a date for the swap, Sajdik said following the Trilateral Contact Group meeting in Minsk.

At the same time, the parties in the Donbas region promised to exchange the detained persons before the New Year and Christmas holidays, he said.

The diplomat said the number of ceasefire violations in east Ukraine remains high. In this connection, the security of the civilians and the observance of the ceasefire regime were high on the agenda, he added.

Donbas is located in the eastern part of Ukraine and witnessed a war since 2014 between the government troops and the separatist forces.

The next meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine will be held on Dec. 20.

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 war in the Donbas region. Enditem