Statement by OSCE Representative in Ukraine

Trilateral Contact Group in Ukraine

Rome/Kyiv [ENA] The Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG), Ambassador Heidi Grau, made a statement to the press after the regular meetings of the TCG ‎and its Working Groups held through video conferencing. Ambassador Heidi Grau of Switzerland was appointed by the Albanian OSCE Chairperson-in-Office as his Special Representative in Ukraine

and in the Trilateral Contact Group on 3 January 2020. Prior to this appointment, Grau was Assistant Secretary of State and Head of the Human Security Division in the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. She served as the Head of Switzerland’s OSCE Chairmanship Task Force from 2012 until 2015, leading Switzerland’s Chairmanship in 2014. From 2010 to 2012, she was Chief of Staff of the Swiss Foreign Minister and President of the Swiss Confederation. She served, inter alia, as the Deputy Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the United Nations in New York and at the Embassy of Switzerland in Moscow.

The statement by Ambassador Heidi Grau is the following: “Observations by the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission show that adherence to the ceasefire continues overall to be respected. This has facilitated agreeing on local security guarantees to enable repairs to and maintenance of critical civilian infrastructure on both sides of the line of contact. This is crucial for the civilian population on the eve of winter. The overall security situation, compliance with the ceasefire and the functioning of measures to strengthen the ceasefire, including the effectiveness of the coordination mechanism for responding to ceasefire violations, were central topics of discussion in the Security Working Group.

I would like to note that, thanks to the ceasefire, there have been no civilian casualties caused by shelling in the last two and a half months, according to the OSCE SMM. However, even in this context, mines and unexploded ordnance continue to cause injuries and deaths. I call on the sides to the conflict to pay more attention to demining and to adopt an updated demining plan. The Working Group on Humanitarian Issues considered the questions of mutual release and exchange of conflict-related detainees, in particular the clarification of the legal status of certain persons previously released.

In addressing these issues, I encourage the participants in the consultations not to lose sight of the “Normandy Four” Paris Summit assignment to proceed with mutual release and exchange based on the “all for all” principle. The meeting participants also confirmed that the preparatory works for the simultaneous opening of two new entry-exit crossing points (ECCPs) in Zolote and Shchastia of Luhansk region were on schedule. The focus of the Economic Working Group was on water supplies across the contact line in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Environmental issues as well as pension payment questions were also duly considered.

The discussions in the Political Working Group did not advance again due to the diverging assessments by the participants with regard to the Resolution of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine № 795-IX “On the appointment of regular local elections in 2020”. The TCG discussed in detail the possibility of developing an action plan for the implementation of the Minsk Agreements to resolve the conflict”.