Press Statement of Special Representative of OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Ambassador Martin Sajdik after meeting of Trilateral Contact Group on 6 September 2017

MINSK, 7 September 2017 – The Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG), Ambassador Martin Sajdik, made the following statement to the press after the meeting of the TCG ‎and its working groups in Minsk on 6 September 2017:

“As you remember, last time the TCG members reiterated their full commitment to permanent ceasefire on the occasion of the beginning of the school year. Today, two weeks later, I would like to draw your attention to the change in the situation on the ground according to the data provided by OSCE Special Monitoring Mission.

If you compare the period from 25 August to date with the same period before 25 August, you can see that the number of ceasefire violations has decreased by 67 percent while the number of explosions has dropped by 74 percent.

As you know, our priority in TCG is the protection of civilians in the conflict zone. I am very glad that in this period, the number of civilian casualties has reduced almost to none.

I am happy to note that these efforts, and of course the so-called "harvest ceasefire", have also made it possible to prevent a "hot summer" such as in 2015 and 2016.

The TCG will further make every possible effort to ensure that the sides hold their commitments to a sustainable and permanent ceasefire.

To this end, the Working Group on Security discussed the practical aspects of the cessation of fire, in particular the requirements for publicity of orders and their consistent implementation.

The sides also discussed the prospects and the method of the disengagement of forces and means in the areas near Stanytsia Luhanska and Zolote, as well as the determination of new areas. Besides, the participants devoted their attention to the protection of critical civil infrastructure.

The Working Group on Economic Issues discussed possible improvements to the payment mechanism for water deliveries to certain areas of Luhansk region, the issue of pension payments as well as the situation of the Ukrainian railways in certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Its participants also concurred in the necessity to protect a certain number of critical infrastructure facilities in the conflict zone.

In the Working Group on Humanitarian issues, the discussion on the exchange of the detainees continued.

With the coming of the cold season, the question of repairing the access roads to the bridge in Stanytsia Luhanska is becoming ever more urgent. The sides shall, without preconditions, a long last find a common solution for the sake of the civilian population.

Last but not least, in the Political Working Group, the discussion concentrated on ways to ensure the special status of certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions in accordance with the Minsk Agreements.

After the summer break and as the new school year begins, I feel determination in the TCG to give a new impetus to our work, to guarantee the calmest autumn possible to the population”.