Press statement of Special Representative of OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Sajdik after meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group

MINSK, 16 February 2017 – The Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG), Ambassador Martin Sajdik, made the following statement to the press after the meeting of the TCG ‎and its working groups in Minsk on 15 February 2017:

“At the previous TCG meeting, we came to a very important decision, which I read out to you last time and which has contributed to the reduction of tensions, decline of hostilities and return to a more peaceful life for the civilian population.

Therefore, today, particular attention was paid to the implementation of full ceasefire, the disengagement of forces and equipment as well as the protection of the civilian population and objects of critical infrastructure, in particular through the creation of so-called security zones in the surrounding areas.

I would like to mention the very important role of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission and the contribution of the Joint Centre for Control and Coordination to the reduction of tensions and the enabling of repair work on the infrastructure damaged in recent attacks in the areas of Avdiivka, Yasynuvata and Donetsk Airport.

Therefore, I would like to express my appreciation for the extraordinary efforts made by Chief Monitor Ambassador Ertugrul Apakan and Principal Deputy Chief Monitor Alexander Hug. Thanks to the work of Ambassador Apakan, consent was reached on the withdrawal of all weapons prohibited by the Minsk agreements by 20 February 2017.

In the humanitarian field, discussions on the release of detainees in relation to the conflict continued. It was decided to make a request to the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine to mediate in the verification procedure for detainees who, after their release, prefer to stay in the territory where they were in detention.

The Working Group on Economic Issues discussed the water supply in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions as well as protection of infrastructure objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population, for instance the Donetsk Filtration Station.

In the political field, the discussion focused on issues related to the so-called ‘Steinmeier formula.’

The next meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group and its Working Groups will take place on 1 March 2017.”