Press Statement of Special Representative Grau after the regular Meeting of Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk on 11 March 2020

MINSK, 12 March 2020 – The Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group, Ambassador Heidi Grau, made the following statement to the press after the meeting of the TCG ‎and its working groups in Minsk on 11 March 2020:

“Along with the search for a peaceful solution to the conflict in the East of Ukraine, safety for civilian population is one of the  priority tasks of the TCG.

In that regard, the recent increase of hostilities at the line of contact and a significant spike of civilian casualties is alarming. In the past two weeks, the number of victims has reached nine persons, which is more than one third of civilian casualties this year.

This is completely unacceptable. In this respect, I once again call on the sides to comply with the obligations regarding commitment to the full cessation of fire.

Now about our work today. Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak and Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation Dmitry Kozak have also taken part in it today. This was an important expression of the sides’ political readiness to support our efforts.

The Security Working Group focused on the issues related to the definition of additional areas for the disengagement of forces and hardware. The participants agreed to deliver their positions with regard to possible compromises within a week.

The Humanitarian Working Group paid a major attention to the exchange of detainees. The participants committed themselves to submit a draft list of persons to the TCG, and finalize it within two weeks.

The sides reached an agreement in principle on the opening of two new Entry/Exit Control Points.

The Economic Working Group concentrated on the issues of water supplies, as well as mobile communication provided by “Vodafone-Ukraine” in certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions (CADR and CALR).

The Political Working Group discussed aspects related to the special status of CADR and CALR, as foreseen by Article 11 of the "Package of Measures".

The decision was taken to establish an Advisory Board at the Working Group. Its draft mandate and working procedures have been defined.

The task of the Board shall be to develop recommendations on political issues within the Group’s purview.”