BERLIN (Sputnik) – Berlin hopes that freeing Ukrainian Nadezhda Savchenko from her 22-year prison term in Russia will help in building trust between Moscow and Kiev, as well as give a positive impulse to the Minsk agreement process, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Wednesday.
“I hope and wish that the successful exchange today will help in building trust between Russia and Ukraine and may also give the Minsk process a positive impulse,” Steinmeier said.
Earlier in the day, Savchenko, who was serving 22 years for the murder of two journalists, was pardoned by Russian President Vladimir Putin and flew back home to Kiev.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko also pardoned two Russians, Yevgeny Yerofeyev and Alexander Alexandrov, who were sentenced to 14 years in Ukraine for terrorist-related crimes. The two Russians also returned to Moscow on Wednesday.
