Statement of the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ambassador Martin Sajdik, after the Meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group on 4 May 2018

MINSK, 4 May 2018 – 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 4 May 2018:

“Last week I delivered my regular report to the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna concerning the TCG achievements.

I would like to take today’s opportunity once again to express my gratitude to the OSCE participating States for their support, particularly what concerns the funding of the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, the largest ever in OSCE history.

I also would like to extend my appreciation to the Italian OSCE Chairmanship for its relentless attention to the resolution of the conflict in the east of Ukraine.

Now, about today’s results:-

First, I would like to stress an important achievement of our work: significant steps have been taken to restore Vodafone-Ukraine mobile communication in certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions (CADR and CALR). This is a major achievement of the TCG, especially of its Working Group on Economic Issues.

I am profoundly grateful not only to the personnel of Vodafone-Ukraine, who carried out extensive work to inspect and re-connect the network equipment in four days, but also to the OSCE SMM team who accompanied the workers throughout their stay in CADR. This achievement is very important for the population in the east of Ukraine.

During the meeting of the Working Group on Security, its Co-ordinator, Ambassador Ertuğrul Apakan, paid special attention to the situation around the Donetsk Filtering Station (DFS). Despite the sides’ security guarantees and the reinforced OSCE SMM patrolling, further ceasefire violations have occurred. Let me remind you that the DFS provides water to hundreds of thousand people on both the sides of the contact line. Therefore, I once again urge the sides to ensure all the required security guarantees to the employees of  Voda Donbasa and SMM monitors to allow for the uninterrupted operation of the station.

The Working Group on Humanitarian Issues continued its discussion on the exchange of detainees and the conditions of their detention. The issue of missing persons was also duly considered.

The Working Group on Political Issues continued its discussion on the implementation of the so-called ‘Steinmeier formula’, amnesty and modalities of local elections in CADR and CALR. The Co-ordinator, Ambassador Pierre Morel, once again stressed the importance of co-operating with the Normandy Four for the successful work of the Group.

Therefore, I hope that – as internal political processes have just finished in one country and are close to completion in the other one – the Normandy Four will give us new political impetus for our further work.”