Secretary-General Welcomes Exchange of Prisoners, Detainees in Eastern Ukraine

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

The Secretary-General welcomes the exchange of prisoners and detainees that took place in eastern Ukraine on 27 December and commends all those who brought this to fruition.  He hopes that this humanitarian act could serve as a positive step towards strengthening the confidence among the sides and urges all parties to take further measures in this spirit, including by fully respecting and upholding the ceasefire agreement and continuing to work together to fulfil all of their commitments under the Minsk agreements.