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

KYIV, 23 July 2020 – The Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG), Ambassador Heidi Grau, made the following statement to the press after the regular meetings of the TCG ‎and its Working Groups held through video conferencing:

“I am pleased to announce that today the Trilateral Contact Group, with the participation of representatives of certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions (CADLR) of Ukraine, reached agreement regarding additional measures to strengthen the ceasefire, aiming to ensure compliance with a comprehensive, sustainable and unlimited ceasefire:

“Measures to strengthen the ceasefire

Issuance and enactment from 00:01hrs (Kyiv time) on 27 July 2020  by the leadership of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the leadership of the armed formations of certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions of, and compliance with, for the whole period until full comprehensive settlement of the conflict, the respective ceasefire orders containing the following ceasefire support measures:

1. ban on offensive, reconnaissance and sabotage operations, as well as ban on operation of any types of aerial vehicles of the sides;
2. ban on firing, including sniper fire;
3. ban on the deployment of heavy weapons in and around settlements, primarily at civilian infrastructure, including schools, kindergartens, hospitals and public premises;
4. the effective use of disciplinary actions for ceasefire violations and notification of them to the TCG Coordinator who shall inform all of its participants about it;
5. creation and involvement of a coordination mechanism for responding to ceasefire violations through the facilitation of the JCCC in its current setting;
6. retaliatory fire responding to an offensive operation* is only permissible if it occurs at the order made by the respective leadership of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the leadership of CADLR armed formations after an unsuccessful attempt to make use of the above-mentioned coordination mechanism. The TCG shall be notified of the issuance of such orders.
7. the above-mentioned measures may not be, fully or in part, disavowed by any other orders, including secret ones.

*Offensive operation shall have the following meaning: any attempts to change the positioning of the troops which exists as of the date of this statement, including any additional engineering improvement of positions, and/or any forward movement and/or relocation of armed persons towards the adversary, including for the purposes of reconnaissance and sabotage operations”.

The leaderships of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and CADLR armed formations will make public statements about the issuance of the orders listing all the above measures and confirm that these ceasefire orders comply with such measures.

The OSCE SMM will contribute and support the sides in the implementation of these measures, as agreed by them, without prejudice to the established procedures of reporting or any other aspect of full implementation of its mandate”.

I hope that the confirmed measures will bring long-awaited silence in the conflict zone and more peace to the civilian population.

The above-mentioned issue, as well as the overall security situation in the conflict zone, was discussed on the eve of the meeting in the Security Working Group.

In addition, the Working Group continued to address demining issues.

The Working Group on Humanitarian Issues agreed to further exchange information regarding conflict-related detainees.

I call upon the sides, in fulfilment of their obligations, to demonstrate goodwill and reach an early agreement for a new stage of mutual release and exchange of detainees, which has long been awaited by the detainees themselves, as well as by their families, their relatives and friends.

In addition, the participants of the Working Group reconfirmed their readiness for the simultaneous opening of two additional entry-exit crossing points in Zolote and Shchastia of the Luhansk region, no later than 10 November 2020. While welcoming this, I urge the sides not to delay the commencement of the preparatory and construction works, so that they can be completed before the cold season.

The Economic Working Group focused on environmental issues in certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine. Current issues of water supplies across the contact line were also duly considered.

The meeting participants of the Political Working Group discussed legal preconditions for ensuring CADLR's special status after the local elections, as foreseen by the Minsk Agreements.”