Press Statement of Special Representative Grau after regular Meeting of Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk on 16 January 2020

MINSK, 16 January 2020 – 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 meeting of the TCG ‎and its working groups in Minsk on 16 January 2020:

“I am pleased to welcome you for the first time as Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and the TCG.

First, I want to express my gratitude to my predecessor, Ambassador Martin Sajdik. I sincerely thank him for his accomplishments and wish him success in his future activities.

I welcome the exchange of detainees that took place at the end of December 2019 according to the formula “all identified for all identified”. It was a major breakthrough and a factor building confidence among the sides.

Last year, the figures of civilian casualties decreased significantly reaching the lowest level since the beginning of the conflict. In January this year, compared to late 2019, the number of ceasefire violations sizably dropped.

It is important to note that last year not a single child fatality was reported. Mines remain the main cause of casualties among civilians. With this in mind, I call on the sides to strengthen demining activities.

Today, the TCG and its Working Groups convened for the first time this year. Our work was primarily focused on the implementation of the conclusions of the Normandy Summit in Paris.

The main discussion topic of the Security Working Group was the identification of additional areas for the disengagement of forces and hardware.

The Humanitarian Working Group took stock of the exchange of detainees of 29 December 2019.

The Economic Working Group discussed the issues of water deliveries in certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions (CADR and CALR).

The Political Working Group addressed issues related to the special status of CADR and CALR as well as the implementation of the ‘Steinmeier formula’ into Ukrainian legislation.”