News and press releases

BAKU, 5 March 2019 – Concluding his visit to Azerbaijan today, OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Slovakia’s Minister for Foreign and European Affairs, Miroslav Lajčák, welcomed the decrease in violence on the Line of Contact and on the international border, and discussed further perspectives for progress towards a comprehensive peace agreement for the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, as well as co-operation between the OSCE and Azerbaijan.

Compared with the previous reporting period, between the evenings of 1 and 2 March, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Compared with the previous 24 hours, between the evenings of 2 and 3 March, the Mission recorded more ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The SMM observed fresh damage to civilian properties from shelling in Pikuzy. The Mission recorded ceasefire violations inside the Zolote disengagement area. The SMM saw weapons in violation of the withdrawal lines near Lysychansk. Restrictions of the Mission’s access continued in all three disengagement areas, near Izvaryne, at a border crossing point outside government control, in non-government-controlled Pikuzy and again at a checkpoint near government-controlled Popasna...

• Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region. • The Mission followed up on reports of an injured man in Donetskyi. • The Mission spotted refurbishment of military positions inside the Petrivske disengagement area. • The SMM saw weapons in violation of the withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. • The Mission monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repair works to essential civilian infrastructure in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions. • Restrictions of the Mission’s access continued in all three disengagement areas and elsewhere, including again at a checkpoint near Popasna.*

Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and no ceasefire violations in Luhansk region. The SMM recorded ceasefire violations near the Petrivske disengagement area and noted that a piece of unexploded ordnance previously observed near the road inside the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area had been removed. The SMM saw weapons in violation of the withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. The Mission monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repair works to essential civilian infrastructure in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Restrictions of the Mission’s access continued in all three disengagement areas. It was also restricted at checkpoints near Popasna, Verkhnoshyrokivske and in Staromykhailivka...

VIENNA, 1 March 2019 – The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, Stéphane Visconti of France, and Andrew Schofer of the United States of America) met with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Yerevan on 20 February and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Baku on 21 February to discuss preparations for a meeting of the leaders in the near future, including possible topics for discussion. The Co-Chairs also held discussions with the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan in their respective capitals. The Co-Chairs were joined by the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Andrzej Kasprzyk...

Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The SMM followed up on reports of three men who sustained shrapnel wounds following the explosion of a device near government-controlled Hrodivka. The SMM saw anti-tank mines and military hardware on the road inside the Zolote disengagement area and recorded ceasefire violations near the same area. The SMM saw weapons in violation of the withdrawal lines in non-government-controlled areas of both Luhansk and Donetsk region. The Mission monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repair works to essential civilian infrastructure in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as well as the recovery of human remains from an area in Luhansk region close to the contact line. Restrictions of the Mission’s access continued in all three disengagement areas. It was also restricted at a heavy weapons holding area in Donetsk region, at a checkpoint near Popasna and, on three occasions, at a checkpoint near Verkhnoshyrokivske. In Odessa, the SMM monitored a gathering in front of the Consulate General of the Russian Federation...

MINSK, 28 February 2019 – 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 27 February 2019...