Press Statement of Special Representative Sajdik after the regular Meeting of Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk on 27 November 2019

MINSK, 27 November 2019 – The Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group, Ambassador Martin Sajdik, made the following statement to the press after the meeting of the TCG ‎and its working groups in Minsk on 27 November 2019:

“Today, the Trilateral Contact Group and its Working Groups convened for the second last time before the end of this year. I would like to remark that recent developments inspire a certain optimism.

As is known, on November 20, 2019, the pedestrian bridge in Stanytsia Luhanska was opened after the completion of the construction and repair works, in the presence of the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. This is a great relief for the civilian population, whose an average 11 thousand people cross every day the entry-exit checkpoint of Stanytsia Luhanska. Here, I would like to express my special gratitude to Leonid Danilovich Kuchma for his tremendous personal efforts in resolving this issue.

Earlier this week, in fulfillment of the commitments taken, the sides notified the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission of the completion of the withdrawal of forces and hardware in the area of Zolote.

In the third disengagement area of Petrivske, the dismantling of fortifications is underway.

Yet, I regret to say that the number of ceasefire violations remains fluctuating. According to the data provided the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission and discussed today in the Security Working Group, their number has increased again in the recent days, after a relative decline last week.

With this in mind, I call on the sides to do everything necessary to ensure a sustainable ceasefire.

I hope that the meeting of the leaders of the Normandy Four in Paris, scheduled for December 9, 2019, will not be upset by fighting activities in the distant Donbass.

In the run-up to the Summit, I would like to note that, on the part of the TCG and its Working Groups, we have completed all the tasks assigned to us by the Political Advisers of the Normandy Four, and today I look forward to this upcoming meeting with great hope.

Now, some more insight into our today's work.

The Economic Working Group, as in the past meetings, considered current issues of water delivery across the line of contact in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions as well as the payment of pensions.

The Humanitarian Working Group focused its discussions on the questions related to an exchange of detainees.

The Political Working Group continued discussing issues related to special status, amnesty and the modalities of local elections."