Press statement of Special Representative of OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Sajdik after meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group on 29 November 2017

MINSK, 30 November 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 29 November 2017:

“In view of the recent developments, the security of the civilian population in the conflict zone and the adherence to the cessation of fire were again the central topics for the TCG and its Working Group on Security Issues.

Taking into account the still high-level of ceasefire violations, the Working Group members reiterated their commitment to the ceasefire declared on the occasion of the beginning of the school year.

The Working Group also discussed the issue of disengagement of forces and hardware. At the same time, Chief Monitor of the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, Ertugrul Apakan, stressed the necessity to provide information to the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission on the locations of weapons inside withdrawal lines and their storage sites.

The sides also reached mutual understanding on the following two points:

Firstly, vegetation clearing and demining works at all the crossing points on the contact line shall be carried out to improve the safety of the population at the intersection.

Secondly, access to the bridge on the northern bank of the Seversky Donets River at the checkpoint in Stanytsia Luhanska is currently in a very poor condition. To restore the wooden constructions at the access to the bridge, the sides agreed to carry out repair works on December 9 and 10, 2017 on condition of adherence to ceasefire. It is envisaged to temporarily close this checkpoint on these two days, namely December 9 and 10.

The outcomes of the other Working Groups are as follows:                 

The Working Group on Humanitarian Issues has focused on the sides’ preparation for the exchange of detainees aiming to complete it in the current year.

The TGG adopted the following statement on this matter:

“The Trilateral Contact Group with the participation of the representatives of certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions confirms the sides’ readiness to exchange detainees on the basis of already approved lists and to agree in the nearest future on the procedure and date of the exchange, with the intention to accomplish this exchange before the New Year and Christmas holidays”. 

The participants of the Economic Working Group continued the discussion of water supply issues, including current settlements and payment of arrears for the supplied water, as well as future water deliveries in the “Karbonyt” system.

The Working Group also considered possible procedures to repay arrears to the former employees of the Ukrainian Railways company in certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

As before, the Political Working Group continued to discuss issues related to the implementation modalities of the so-called ‘Steinmeier formula’.”