- Title: Germany's Steinmeier welcomes release of Ukraine pilot Savchenko
- Date: 25th May 2016
- Summary: BERLIN, GERMANY (MAY 25, 2016) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER FRANK-WALTER STEINMEIER AND HIS SAUDI COUNTERPART ADEL AL-JUBEIR ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE CAMERAS STEINMEIER SPEAKING (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER, FRANK-WALTER STEINMEIER, SAYING: "I am glad and relieved that Ukrainian pilot Savchenko not only has been released but by now has arrived in Ukraine and can return to her family. This is good news we have waited and worked for a long time. I wish her a good return home, an improvement of her health condition and of course I hope that this release, this swap will also play a part in the building of trust between Ukraine and Russia and therefore will give new stimuli to the Minsk process." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS CAMERAS STEINMEIER AND ADEL AL-JUBEIR SHAKING HANDS AND LEAVING
- Embargoed: 9th June 2016 14:19
- Keywords: Steinmeier Ukraine Savchenko Russia
- Location: BERLIN, GERMANY
- City: BERLIN, GERMANY
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
- Reuters ID: LVA0014JB2N2F
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Wednesday (May 25) welcomed the release of Ukrainian military pilot Nadiya Savchenko, who arrived home in Kiev after nearly two years in a Russian jail as part of a prisoner swap in which two Russians held in Ukraine were returned to Moscow.
Handing over Savchenko, whose release had been demanded by Western governments and who has become a national hero in Ukraine, is likely to ease tensions between Moscow and the West a few weeks before the European Union decides whether to extend sanctions against Russia.
"I am glad and relieved that Ukrainian pilot Savchenko not only has been released but by now has arrived in Ukraine and can return to her family. This is good news we have waited and worked for a long time. I wish her a good return home, an improvement of her health condition and of course I hope that this release, this swap will also play a part in the building of trust between Ukraine and Russia and therefore will give new stimuli to the Minsk process," Steinmeier told reporters at a joint news conference with his Saudi counterpart Adel al-Jubeir.
In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Savchenko, who while in Russian jail was elected a member of the Ukrainian parliament, was granted a pardon by Russian President Vladimir Putin to allow her to leave jail and return home.
Peskov also said that the two Russians, Alexander Alexandrov and Yevgeny Yerofeyev, were now back in Russia, having landed at Moscow's Vnukovo airport on a special flight from Kiev.
Ukraine accused them of being Russian special forces officers fighting in eastern Ukraine, though Moscow has never acknowledged the two were following its orders. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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