MOSCOW, June 9. /TASS/. Ukraine refuses to accept bodies of the fallen soldiers, because it is difficult for it to admit such losses, and the money for compensation has already been spent, head of the Russian delegation at the talks with Ukraine, Presidential Aide Vladimir Medinsky said.
"First of all, it's hard for them to admit such big losses. Secondly, we suggested that if you have the bodies of our dead [military personnel], load them directly into our wagons, into our refrigerated trucks, so that we can bury them," Medinsky said in an interview with RT.
"Apparently, they have nothing to load back. And the most important thing is that Ukraine has passed a law, under which the family of the deceased receives a very large compensation from American money. A very big one. But this money, which was paid by America and Europe, is not being spent on compensation. They have already been spent on completely different things.
"This money is not there. It is spent. No one wants to pay it. By the way, since that moment, in my opinion, Ukraine has not paid anyone like that. They are declared missing. And if you're missing, you don't have to pay."
Earlier, Medinsky said that "the Russian side, in strict accordance with the Istanbul agreements, on June 6 began implementing a humanitarian action to transfer over 6,000 bodies of dead Ukrainian soldiers as well as to swap wounded and seriously ill prisoners of war and prisoners of war under 25."
However, Medinsky noted, Ukraine unexpectedly postponed indefinitely both the acceptance of the bodies and the exchange of prisoners of war.