Press Statement of Special Representative Grau after the regular Meeting of Trilateral Contact Group on 21 January 2021

KYIV, 21 January  2021 — 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:

“Today was the first meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group in the new year 2021.

I await this year our consultations will be constructive and based on mutual respect.

I urge all the participants in the TCG meetings to demonstrate responsibility. In this context, an important element is to refrain from unfounded mutual accusations, as well as destructive and unreliable statements about the course of negotiations in the media.

Despite certain disturbing trends, the ceasefire, as assessed by the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission, continues to be generally respected.

The general security situation in the conflict zone as well as issues concerning the functioning of the co-ordination mechanism for responding to ceasefire violations were in the focus of the Security Working Group.

Participants in the Working Group meeting also discussed the conditions necessary for carrying out repair and reconstruction works at the gas distribution station near Marinka that, along with the gas pipeline, was damaged in 2014. Fourteen thousand residents of Krasnohorivka and Marinka depend on this station for heat supply.

The discussions of the Political Working Group were concentrated on the implementation of the mandate given by the TCG to develop a draft action plan in full compliance with the Minsk agreements.

The Humanitarian Working Group considered the order of future operation of the entry-exit crossing points on the contact line near Zolote and Shchastia of the Luhansk region.

Questions concerning mutual release and exchange of conflict-related detainees were also discussed.

I urge all participants of the TCG meeting to demonstrate the political will to swiftly reach an agreement on the mutual release and exchange of detainees based on the principle "all for all", starting with "all confirmed for all confirmed".

The attention of the Economic Working Group was focused on the provision of water supplies across the contact line in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine (CADLR). In particular, it was possible to progress on the issue of the payment mechanism of the public utility enterprise "Voda Donbassa".

Also, the issue of international inspection of CADLR-located facilities that store radioactive materials was duly considered.”