Press Statement of Special Representative Grau after the regular Meeting of Trilateral Contact Group on 22 April 2020

KYIV, 22 April 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:

“The time since our last session was marked by a significant success in the humanitarian field. On April 16, mutual release and exchange of detainees related to the conflict in eastern Ukraine took place.

This time, regular meetings of the Trilateral Contact Group and its Working Groups were again held through video conferencing.

With a view to the coronavirus pandemic, I call on the sides to exert their utmost efforts to ensure that measures taken against the coronavirus outbreak do not become an additional obstacle to the free and safe access of the SMM throughout the territory of Ukraine in accordance with its mandate.

I also call on to ensure the possibility of crossing the line of contact for civilians on humanitarian grounds.

Now about the meetings of the TCG and its Working Groups.

The Political Working Group considered aspects related to the special status of certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine and implementation of the ‘Steinmeier formula’, as foreseen by the Minsk Agreements.

The discussions of the Security Working Group were focused on the identification of additional disengagement areas of forces and hardware.

The meeting’s participants also exchanged information on the status of implementation of their updated mine action plans. Mine clearance is conducted at entry-exit crossing points (EECPs) and in their vicinity, as well as along frequently used roads, at cemeteries, near schools and other civilian facilities.

The Humanitarian Working Group discussed the preparation of the next possible exchange of conflict-related detainees according to the formula ‘all identified for all identified’.

The participants of the meeting reached a common understanding of the roadmap for simultaneous opening of two additional ECCPs on the line of contact in the Luhansk region.

The Economic Working Group focused on current issues of water supplies across the line of contact in certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.”