Putin meets with Ukrainian politician Medvedchuk
On Wednesday, January 10, the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin met with Viktor Medvedchuk, the representative of Ukraine in the humanitarian subgroup of the Trilateral Contact Group on the Donbas, the leader of the public movement "Ukrainian Choice: the right of the people" and his compadre (Putin is the godfather of Medvedchuk's daughter – Ed.).
This was reported by the EUDaily portal, citing sources at the Russian President's administration. According to Russia's radio station Business FM, Putin’s Press Secretary, Dmitry Peskov confirmed that the meeting actually took place.
"During the meeting, the President of the Russian Federation and the Special Representative of Ukraine in the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk discussed the Ukrainian agenda. In particular, they talked about the second stage of the prisoner swap between Kyiv and the two self-proclaimed republics (DPR and LPR), as well as the release of Ukrainian citizens who have been convicted and imprisoned in the Russian Federation,” the statement says.
“They also discussed the real prospects for the UN peacekeeping contingent's deployment in the Donbas and an acceptable format of the UN peacekeeping mission, as well as the prospects of the implementation of the Minsk Agreements and peaceful settlement of the conflict in the East of Ukraine as a whole.”