Press Statement of Special Representative Grau after first part of the regular Meeting of Trilateral Contact Group on 10 June 2020
KYIV, 10 June 2020 – The Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group, Ambassador Heidi Grau, made the following statement to the press:
“The meetings of the Trilateral Contact Group and its Working Groups were held through video conferencing.
According to the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission, the number of ceasefire violations has considerably decreased since the previous TCG meeting two weeks ago.
Besides assessing the general situation in the conflict zone, the Security Working Group considered issues related to disengagement of forces and hardware, including the identification of additional disengagement areas, as tasked by the Normandy Four leaders in Paris in December 2019.
The Political Working Group discussed aspects related to the consolidation of the special status of certain regions of Donetsk and Luhansk regions (CADR and CALR) in the Ukrainian legislation. The modalities of local elections in CADR and CALR were also considered, as stipulated by the Minsk Agreements.
The discussions of the Working Group on Humanitarian Issues focused on further mutual release and exchange of conflict-related detainees. The participants also discussed the issue of providing the necessary security guarantees for the preparatory works in view of the simultaneous opening of additional entry-exit crossing points (ECCPs) on the line of contact in the Luhansk region.
Besides, the Working Group debated issues related to re-opening of existing ECCPs in the course of lifting restrictions imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
I welcome the sides’ readiness re-open ECCPs, which is for the benefit of the population. I would like to emphasize that the relevant decisions shall be based on mutual understanding to ensure a smooth crossing of the line of contact.
As agreed by the participants, the TCG meeting will continue on Monday, June 15”.