TCG discusses additional areas for disengagement of forces in Donbas

TCG discusses additional areas for disengagement of forces in Donbas

Ukrinform
The Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk continued the discussion to identify additional areas for the disengagement of forces and hardware in Donbas.

Heidi Grau, the new Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group, said this in a statement following the TCG’s meeting in Minsk on January 29, 2020.

"The Security Working Group continued its discussions to identify additional areas for the disengagement of forces and hardware. This topic will again be put on the agenda of the next meeting. Issues of demining activities were addressed as well," the statement reads.

According to Ambassador Grau, the meetings of the TCG and its working groups were focused mainly on the implementation of the conclusions of the Normandy Summit in Paris.

Assessing the general security situation in the conflict zone, she noted that the number of ceasefire violations in January remained below last year’s average level.

However, according to the data of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission, the number of civilian casualties has increased since the end of the last year. Besides shelling, mines remain their main cause.

In this regard, the ambassador urged the sides to take all the necessary measures to comply with the ceasefire and scale up their demining activities. She also underlined the need for safe and secure access of the OSCE SMM, as required by its mandate.

"These are key preconditions to prevent civilian casualties and ensure a peaceful resolution of the conflict," she said.

In addition, the Humanitarian Working Group discussed the topic of missing persons. "I want to note that the issue of the full and unconditional access of the International Committee of the Red Cross, as well as other international organizations, to all detained persons, as agreed by the Normandy Four leaders, remains open," Grau noted.

In the focus of the Economic Working Group were the issues of water supplies across the contact line in certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions (CADR and CALR). Issues related to pension payments and ensuring mobile communications were also addressed.

The Political Working Group focused on the issues related to the special status of CADR and CALR as well as the implementation of the ‘Steinmeier formula’ into Ukrainian legislation.”

The next meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group will take place on February 12.

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