Ukraine Conflict At Risk Of Becoming Frozen - OSCE Chief

Ukraine Conflict at Risk of Becoming Frozen - OSCE Chief

The head of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's (OSCE) regional security bloc said, in an interview with the Euroactive news website out Wednesday, that a frozen conflict in eastern Ukraine was still possible

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th February, 2020) The head of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's (OSCE) regional security bloc said, in an interview with the Euroactive news website out Wednesday, that a frozen conflict in eastern Ukraine was still possible.

"Clearly, I cannot exclude that we end up with a protracted situation. It is a possible outcome. From my point of view, we can only think in terms of planning scenarios," Thomas Greminger said.

He described an uptick in contacts between the Ukrainian and Russian authorities in the past months as a sign of progress but said a sustainable ceasefire in the east of Ukraine was still "miles away."

Greminger defended the Steinmeier Formula, which proposes giving the two regions greater autonomy in return for holding elections under Ukrainian laws, but said the status of local pro-separatist authorities needed to be clarified.