The Head of the LPR, Igor Plotnitsky confirmed that the leader of the DPR, Alexander Zakharchenko, and he had met with the MP of the Verkhovnaya Rada, Nadezhda Savchenko, in Minsk.

‘Recently, Alexander Zakharchenko and I met with the MP of Ukraine, Nadezhda Savchenko. It should be perceived correctly, it is necessary to understand that this whole process is in the framework of the Minsk negotiations,’ said Plotnitsky.

According to Plotnitsky, during the meeting the parties discussed the issue of the exchange of prisoners.

‘The main topic of our conversation was the exchange of prisoners according to the formula «all for all», that is the missing, and the issues that relate to this topic,’ he said.

The «Batkivschina» has already commented on this information, disowning any contacts with the authorities of the People's Republics and calling them «unacceptable».

‘Both the party as a whole, and the faction «Batkivschina» in the Verkhovnaya Rada, since the beginning of the Russian aggression against Ukraine, has consistently advocated the position that negotiations with terrorists can not be performed. This position of our political force is recorded in numerous statements and speeches.

Nadezhda Savchenko ... does not coordinate her actions with the faction and the party «Batkivschina»,’ said a statement released by the party. 

The SBU also said they had not been aware of Savchenko’s planned trip to Minsk.