Steinmeier hopes for UN Security Council’s support for Minsk process

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier expects the United Nations to support the Minsk process and the efforts of the "Normandy Four" in settling the conflict in Ukraine.

The Minister is going to say this, speaking as the Chairperson-in-Office of the OSCE before the UN Security Council members in New York on Monday. The text of his speech is available to an Ukrinform correspondent in Germany.

"Together with our French colleagues we remain committed to support of this [Minsk] process in ‘the Normandy format’, and I count on the support of the [Security] Council in this regard," reads the statement.

The Minister recalled the OSCE's invaluable assistance in settling the Ukrainian conflict. He noted that "we would not have achieved the progress we see in the military de-escalation and withdrawal of weapons" without the Special Monitoring Mission. At the same time, he expressed serious concern about the continuing violations of the ceasefire and the restriction of the SMM’s access to the territories.

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