OSCE mission will facilitate dialogue in Donbas - Linde
She said this at a joint meeting with Ukrainian officials in Luhansk region on Wednesday, January 20, according to a statement posted on Donetsk Regional State Administration's website.
"The OSCE mission will continue to monitor and report on the current situation. In addition, it will facilitate dialogue, but the parties must adhere to their commitments," Linde said.
She said that resolving the crisis in and around Ukraine remained a priority for the OSCE, which should take place with full respect for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders and based on OSCE principles and commitments.
Linde added that it was not the first time she had visited Luhansk region. However, this is her first visit as OSCE Chairperson-in-Office.
The report says that the meeting took place with the participation of Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories Oleksiy Reznikov, Acting Commander of the Joint Forces Operation Viktor Hanushchak, Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Liudmyla Denisova, and Ukrainian and Swedish diplomats.
Analyzing the situation on the contact line, Hanushchak said it was generally under control, but the number of ceasefire violations grows ahead of high-level political meetings or meetings of the Trilateral Contact Group. In addition, he said that all checkpoints in Donetsk and Luhansk regions were ready to operate, but the occupation authorities of the temporarily uncontrolled territory in every way prevent the normal passage of citizens through their checkpoints.
The head of the Donetsk regional civil-military administration, Pavlo Kyrylenko, assured Linde that the Donetsk regional authorities were ready to cooperate for the sake of achieving peace in Ukraine. "We will do everything in our power to achieve a common result," Kyrylenko said.
Linde is on a two-day working visit to Ukraine. Today, on January 20, she and Kuleba visited the area of the Joint Forces Operation in Donbas.
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