Press Statement of Special Representative of OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Sajdik after Meeting of Trilateral Contact Group on 18 April 2018

MINSK, 18 April 2018 – 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 18 April 2018:

“At the previous meetings, the Trilateral Contact Group, with the participation of the representatives of certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions (CADR and CALR), stated the recommitment to a ceasefire on the occasion of Easter celebrations. Recently, however, the situation in the conflict zone has been far from stable, including grievous cases of civilian casualties. Among them is yesterday's shelling of the bus with the employees of the Donetsk filtering station, as well as the death of the family caused by drive on the explosive device.

Last week I visited Donetsk and Luhansk regions. In particular, I crossed the contact line at the checkpoint in Stanytsia Luhanska and personally experienced the difficulties encountered by civilians, especially elderly and disabled people. In this regard, the improvement of checkpoints and the opening of new ones, pension payments to residents of the non-governmental controlled areas, as well as the overall security situation remain significant topics for the TCG and its Working Groups.

Discussing issues related to the overall situation in the conflict zone and adherence to ceasefire, the Working Group on Security emphasized the importance of security guarantees for the operation of civilian infrastructure. The Group also discussed withdrawal of heavy weapons, disengagement of forces and hardware, in particular in Stanytsia Luhanska, and the possibilities to open new entry-exit checkpoints.

The Working Group on Humanitarian Issues continued its discussion on the exchange of detainees and the conditions of their detention.

The Working Group on Economic Issues considered further steps to restore and maintain Vodafone-Ukraine mobile communications in CADR and CALR. The Group also discussed the issues of pension payments and the water deliveries in "Karbonyt" and "Voda Donbassa" supply systems.

The Working Group on Political Issues continued its discussion on the implementation of the so-called ‘Steinmeier formula’. Herewith, the Coordinator Ambassador Morel stressed the importance of cooperation with the Normandy Four for the successful work of the Group.

In the end, I would like to take the opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission. While visiting Luhansk and Donetsk regions, I was once again convinced of the importance and the constructive work of the Mission and its staff”.