Contacts continue: as Ukraine and the Russian Federation agree on a number of questions - WP
About it reports The Washington Post. Despite the brutal war in the publication, Ukraine and the Russian Federation will agree on basic humanitarian issues: in some cases, Moscow and Kiev use mediators: Turkey, Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, the International Committee of the Red Cross and even the Vatican. Journalists say that most of the exchanges of contacts are directly held by individual representatives of Kyiv and Moscow in Istanbul, on the Ukrainian-Russian border or during phone calls.
They were told about this by Ukrainian officials who are involved in discussions. "It is very, very emotionally difficult. They are enemies, but if we talk about the negotiation process, this conflict of interest must be overcome.
We understand that whatever happens, whatever we have a relationship now, we are as interested in Ukrainians in returning Our defenders, and if we reject all communication channels, we will not be able to do it, " - said Dmitry Usov, a representative of GUR, who heads the coordination center for the exchange of prisoners. Presidential Advisor Mikhail Podolyak says that intermediaries are a spare option, because if Ukraine can solve the issue itself, then it does.
On the Russian side, the Coordination Center of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, which includes the FSB, Russian politicians and mercenaries of Wagner PEC or others, is responsible for the exchange of prisoners. The Geneva Conventions provide for the exchange of prisoners of war after the fighting. But Usov said that Ukraine seeks to return its defenders from captivity as soon as possible. The UN noted that the Ukrainian military was subjected to systematic tortures.
Ethnic Crimean Tatarin Rustem Umerov is fluent in Turkish, and he has established connections in Turkey during the negotiations on the release of Crimean Tatar prisoners after Russia's invasion of the peninsula in 2014. Therefore, Ankara is one of the negotiation sites. Another mediator is the Vatican. Ukraine is lobbying through the Catholic Church to return all non -combatants, including chefs, doctors and other military people who do not participate in hostilities.
According to the Geneva Conventions, non -combatants cannot be captured. Kyiv passed through the papal nunia through the mediation of the Holy See the list of people to return, says the source of journalists. Qatar also helps because of the difficulty with the return of Ukrainian deported children from Russia. As a rule, Moscow releases children only to the guardians or their legal representatives, that is, parents or other relatives should go to Russian settlements for their children.
Such trips can break through the war. Between the Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmitry Lubinz and Russian Ombudsman Tatiana Moskalova there is a line of communication with respect to missing children, but she, according to Lubin, did not produce results. However, Ukraine has found a way to return Ukrainian children. We will remind, on October 16 the media wrote that Qatar helped to return deported children from the Russian Federation to Ukraine.