OSCE Chairman-in-Office Rau concludes visit to Ukraine

KYIV, 11 February - The OSCE Chairman-in-Office and Foreign Minister of Poland Zbigniew Rau has concluded his visit to Ukraine today. He highlighted the significance of taking specific steps to solve the crisis in and around that country in line with both international law and the principles and commitments of the OSCE.

The Chairman-in-Office then met with Ukraine’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba. The discussion focused on the de-escalation of tensions in and around Ukraine, on improving the humanitarian situation of communities affected by conflict, and on the measures taken to reach a balanced and peaceful solution through all available formats, including the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG). Reiterating the Chairmanship’s support, Minister Rau emphasized that the Minsk agreements must be fully implemented.

“My first visit to Ukraine as the OSCE Chairman-in-Office is a firm expression of the Polish Chairmanship’s primary concern with supporting efforts to reach a peaceful solution to the crisis and bring it to an end,” said Minister Rau.

Minister Rau also met with OSCE representatives in Ukraine, namely Ambassador Yaşar H. Çevik, Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine; Ambassador Mikko Kinnunen, Special Representative of the Chairman-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group; and Ambassador Henrik Villadsen, OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine.

During the meeting, Minister Rau expressed his full support for the work of the TCG and the SMM and voiced concern over the inadmissible restrictions on the freedom of movement faced by the SMM, especially in Ukraine’s non-government-controlled areas. He pointed out that the persisting restrictions pose a serious challenge for the Mission’s ability to fulfill its mandate.

“As the OSCE Chair, Poland is really looking forward to your support in seeking to de-escalate tensions and improve the living conditions for the population affected by the conflict. We can achieve this also by ensuring the SMM monitor’ unrestricted and safe access throughout the territory of Ukraine, including the area outside of government control, as provided for in the Minsk agreements and the Common Agreed Conclusions of the Normandy Summit of 9 December 2019,” added Minister Rau.

He also met with Florence Gillette, representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Ukraine, and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for the Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories Iryna Vereshchuk. The meeting with Florence Gillette was an opportunity to express gratitude to ICRC for providing humanitarian aid in hard-to-reach locations within conflict-affected areas, and to recall Poland’s long-standing co-operation with the ICRC in Ukraine. Minister Rau and Deputy Prime Minister Vereshchuk discussed the negative impact of the conflict on civilians and possible steps to alleviate their hardship and support them.

Minister Rau also travelled to Kharkiv and visited the SMM’s office. Minister Rau also met with participants at an OSCE training event - “Development and Implementation of Information Security Management System (ISMS)” - dealing with combatting cybercrime, organized by the OSCE for Ukrainian police officers.

The visit concluded with a meeting between the Chairman-in-Office and President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy. In the context of heightened tensions in the region, Minister Rau underlined the significance of the OSCE Chairmanship’s Renewed European Security Dialogue initiative.

The OSCE’s Chairman-in-Office will visit Moscow next week.