Kyiv completely supports Ankara’s proposal for a humanitarian corridor, according to the Ukrainian Parliament commissioner for human rights.
"Last night, we talked about President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's new initiative on a humanitarian corridor. I said this is a very good idea and Ukraine supports it," said Dmytro Lubinets, speaking at the international "Future of Human Rights in the 21st Century" conference in the capital Ankara Thursday.
Lubinets said the initiative could serve as "a new platform where the representatives of Ukraine, Russia and Türkiye will try to find solutions to many humanitarian problems."
Noting that he met with Russian High Commissioner for Human Rights Tatyana Moskalkova in two meetings, Lubinets said the first day's meeting was in a bilateral format with the Ukrainian and Russian ombudsmen and the second day's meeting was held in a tripartite format with the participation of Türkiye's Chief Ombudsman Şeref Malkoç as part of the conference.
The two commissioners discussed providing humanitarian assistance to citizens of both nations, where prisoners are detained, a potential exchange, medical help, reuniting families, finding missing persons and even a possible cease-fire.
Lubinets said their meetings with the Russian ombudsman will continue and they will hold a new meeting with Moskalkova and Malkoç on Friday evening.
Pointing out “several problems that need to be addressed” in these meetings, Lubinets said: "The main problem is to make the exchange of prisoners of war better. The second problem is the issue of the thousands of Ukrainian civilian prisoners that Russia has captured in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine and are now holding on Russian territory."
Asked whether any agreement has been reached on this issue, he said both countries are willing to resolve the issues, but they haven't reached an agreement yet.
Turkish media previously quoted Moskalkova as telling reporters they had agreed to exchange "over 40 prisoners" from each side, but she later denied the reports, saying “someone misunderstood something.” She and Lubinets exchanged lists of wounded soldiers to prepare for a possible future swap.
The Ukrainian commissioner on Thursday also thanked President Erdoğan for his support on the grain corridor and prisoner exchange.
Noting that Erdoğan's formula is very suitable for them, Lubinets added that Erdoğan is a strong leader like Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Earlier this week, Erdoğan expressed support for the opening of a humanitarian corridor as he addressed the conference’s opening.
“Türkiye’s chief ombudsman Malkoç made a proposal about a corridor, especially for the injured. We are already prepared for that,” he said.
"We are helping the injured to be evacuated from other countries, from Syria to Azerbaijan and Syria and we will continue to do so.”
He further noted that Türkiye was already contributing to resolving the food and energy crisis affecting the world amid the conflict, through the grain corridor and hosting prisoner swaps between Russia and Ukraine.
Since Russia launched its military operation in February last year, Turkish mediation has facilitated the swap of some 200 prisoners in September and the signing of a deal between Türkiye, the United Nations, Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul that reopened specific Ukrainian ports for releasing grain that had been stuck for months, effectively fending off worsening a global food crisis.
Just last week, Erdoğan and Zelenskyy discussed issues related to humanitarian assistance, the grain corridor and Türkiye’s readiness to diplomatically contribute to the de-conflicting process and support to Kyiv's proposed plan for peace.
In a separate phone call, Erdoğan told Russian President Vladimir Putin that peace and negotiation calls must be supported by a unilateral cease-fire as well as a vision for a fair solution.
