Sides must respect ceasefire in order to reverse worsening security situation in Ukraine, say OSCE Chairmanship Special Representative and Chief Monitor

VIENNA, 28 April 2016 – The sides in eastern Ukraine must urgently and fully respect the ceasefire in order to reverse the worsening security situation, said the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group Martin Sajdik and the Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) Ertugrul Apakan in their addresses to the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna today.

“The ceasefire violations are a blatant disregard of the Minsk agreements and risk undermining our common peace efforts. Ahead of the holidays in the beginning of May, the sides need to fully respect the ceasefire,” said Sajdik. “I continue to believe that implementing the political elements of the Minsk agreements is extremely important for conflict resolution and for rebuilding trust.”  

Ambassador Apakan said that in the past weeks, the SMM has registered the highest number of ceasefire violations in months, while many weapons that were previously at permanent storage sites and holding areas are now back in use at the contact line.

Speaking of an increasingly difficult situation for civilians in eastern Ukraine, the Chief Monitor said: “Action needs to be taken to make travelling across the contact line safer, including through demining, and to enable civilians to cross the contact line in more locations.”

The Chief Monitor echoed the OSCE Chairperson-in Office and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s condemnation of direct attacks against SMM and assets. “No perpetrator has been held to account. This impunity for people who threaten, violently mistreat or attack the SMM, or who violate its freedom of movement, must end,” said Apakan.

“A sustainable ceasefire is of central importance to the further implementation of the Minsk agreements. Now is the time for the sides to show visible and decisive action to restore it,” Apakan said.