OREANDA-NEWS. UN Secretary General Antoniu Guterres welcomes the exchange of held persons between Kiev and the republics of Donbass and looks forward to further progress in resolving the conflict in eastern Ukraine. This was reported in a statement published on Thursday on the website of the Secretary General’s office.

"The Secretary-General hopes that this important humanitarian action, which took place on the eve of the Orthodox Easter, will be a positive step towards further progress, including a permanent ceasefire, as well as a continued re-establishment of forces and unhindered access to humanitarian assistance through the contact line parties", the report said.

The statement also notes that the Secretary General urges all parties to continue work on the implementation of the Minsk agreements. On Thursday, a few days before Orthodox Easter, the first exchange of held persons between the republics of Donbass and Kiev took place in 2020, as the parties agreed at the last meeting of the contact group on April 8.