Press Statement of Special Representative of OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Sajdik after Meeting of Trilateral Contact Group on 22 August 2018

MINSK, 22 August 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 22 August 2018:

As you may already know, three Working Groups, namely on Security, Political and Humanitarian Issues, have held two-day meetings. The Economic Working Group and the TCG convened only today.

I would like to note that this year we are witnessing the calmest summer since the beginning of the conflict. Since August, no civilian fatalities have been recorded. However, unfortunately, according to the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, three injured civilians  have been registered so far.

In this regard, compliance with the ceasefire and the overall security situation in the conflict zone were addressed today by the Trilateral Contact Group and its Security Working Group.

In this spirit, the TCG adopted the following Statement on the ceasefire on the occasion of the beginning of the school year:

“The Trilateral Contact Group, with the participation of representatives of certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine, reiterates its full commitment to a permanent ceasefire on the occasion of the beginning of the school year, starting at 00:01 on 29 August 2018.

The sides shall take all necessary steps to ensure that the ceasefire is sustainable.

For the purpose of monitoring, the sides shall also ensure safe and secure access of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) throughout the whole territory of Ukraine, in accordance with its mandate.”

I personally call on the sides to support this decision at the highest political level.

The Humanitarian Working Group further considered issues related to the exchange of detainees.

The Working Group also discussed the preparation for the forthcoming trip of Ambassador Toni Frisch, the Coordinator of the Working Group, to the conflict zone. Among others, the Coordinator shall meet detainees and assess their detention conditions on both sides of the contact line.

The Working Group on Political Issues further considered the implementation of the ‘Steinmeier formula’ as well as amnesty.

The Economic Working Group continued its discussion of issues related to the operation of civilian infrastructure. The Group also considered further steps to restore and improve the quality of the "Vodafone-Ukraine" mobile communication network in certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions (CADR and CALR respectively), as well as current issues of water deliveries in the "Karbonyt" and "Voda Donbasa" supply systems.

In this regard, I would like to express my gratitude to the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission. Its mediation to provide necessary “windows of silence” is essential for the solution of the above mentioned issues.

Let me provide some examples: Thanks to the support of the OSCE SMM, the first delivery of spare parts and equipment for "Vodafone-Ukraine" in CALR has been successfully completed. Also, repair works to restore main connecting cable in Stanytsia Luhanska are now under way. In addition, the first stage of works to reinforce phenol sludge reservoire in the town of Zalizne and repairs of the gas pipeline in Avdiivka have been recently completed.”