OSCE Envoy To Trilateral Contact Group On Donbas Calls On Sides To Preserve Ceasefire

OSCE Envoy to Trilateral Contact Group on Donbas Calls on Sides to Preserve Ceasefire

Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) Heidi Grau on Wednesday called on the sides to the conflict in Ukraine's eastern breakaway Donbas region to maintain a ceasefire

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th September, 2020) Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) Heidi Grau on Wednesday called on the sides to the conflict in Ukraine's eastern breakaway Donbas region to maintain a ceasefire.

"I urge the sides to continue doing all it takes to ensure an effective and sustainable ceasefire, first and foremost in the interest of the civilian population," Grau told reporters following an extraordinary online meeting of the TCG.

The official added that the participants of the contact group agreed during the meeting on a joint inspection near the Shumy settlement in Donetsk Oblast.

"Today's extraordinary meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group was devoted to security issues and compliance with the ceasefire in the conflict zone, in particular, to discussing the situation in the area of Shumy, of which the participants of the meeting have diverging assessments. The participants of the TCG meeting agreed that a visit of the discussed area would be useful," Grau said.

The inspection visit is expected to take place on Thursday, the OSCE envoy added.

Since April 2014, the Ukrainian government has been conducting a military operation against the self-declared republics of Donetsk and Luhansk. Prospects for peace have been discussed in various formats, including during the meetings of the contact group in Minsk, which, since September 2014, has already adopted three documents regulating steps to de-escalate the conflict.

The eastern Ukrainian peace process saw a breakthrough on July 27 when negotiators signed an exhaustive list of measures on how to maintain the peace in the volatile region. The measures include a blanket ban on deploying military equipment or using drones in reconnaissance, sabotage, or offensive missions in sensitive locations. In an unprecedented step, a system of holding ceasefire violators accountable was also agreed upon by the sides.