OSCE Chair Lajcak: Disengagement from Petrivske brings us closer to Normandy Format summit

The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Slovakia’s Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Miroslav Lajcak, has welcomed the completion of withdrawal of forces and hardware in the agreed disengagement area near Petrivske.

The relevant statement has been posted on the OSCE website.

“I congratulated the sides on showing real commitment to pave the way towards peace. Following the positive steps in Stanytsia Luhanska and Zolote, the renewal of the disengagement from Petrivske brings us closer to a summit of the Normandy Format,” Lajcak said.

He also added that a high-level meeting “would constitute an important step in the efforts for a peaceful and sustainable resolution of the conflict in eastern Ukraine”.

On November 3, the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) reported it had received letters from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and Russian-backed armed formations in Donbas that notified about the completion of withdrawal of forces and hardware in the agreed disengagement area near Petrivske.