Ukraine seeks to enhance humanitarian cooperation with ICRC

Ukraine is willing to enhance its humanitarian cooperation with the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC), especially on the issues related to the conflict in eastern regions, First Vice Speaker of the Ukrainian parliament Iryna Gerashchenko said on Monday.

"Ukraine prioritizes humanitarian issues and stands ready for their resolution," Gerashchenko wrote on Facebook after her meeting with visiting President of the ICRC Peter Maurer.

Particularly, Ukraine plans to create a joint mechanism with the ICRC for searching people, who went missing during the conflict in the Donbas, Gerashchenko said.

Besides, the two sides will cooperate on the issues related to the protection of critical infrastructure in eastern Ukraine and the release of people captured during the conflict, she added.

Kiev believes that pro-independence insurgents are holding at least 113 Ukrainian soldiers and civilians detained during the conflict. Another 483 Ukrainians are listed as missing.

Insurgents said earlier that the government is holding 618 of their supporters.

The conflict between government troops and rebels in eastern Ukraine, which rages for almost three years, has killed some 10,000 people.

The humanitarian situation in the conflict-affected areas, where many critical infrastructure objects were damaged by the hostilities, is alarming, with an estimated 3.8 million civilians are in need of immediate humanitarian assistance.

Maurer arrived in Kiev earlier in the day for a five-day visit.

Source: Xinhua