Special Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) Heidi Grau called on the parties to the conflict in Donbas to urgently take steps on mine action. This was stated in her statement following the TCG meeting.
“With the onset of the warm season and the approaching Easter holidays, I urge the parties to urgently take steps on mine action,” – quoted by Grau TASS.
She also stated that mines and other unexploded devices were responsible for the majority of civilian casualties in 2021, according to the Special Monitoring Mission (SMM).
Grau added that the OSCE SMM continues to record a high level of ceasefire violations. She stated that the SMM’s unmanned aerial vehicles are exposed to fire and electronic interference every day.
The Special Representative also said that the need to comply with the ceasefire was at the center of the TCG’s discussions. According to her, “the participants in the meeting confirmed their commitment to it”, but “unfortunately, it was not possible to come to an agreement <...> regarding the response to violations of the ceasefire regime and their exclusion in the future, unfortunately”.
According to Grau, the focus of the humanitarian working group was to remove obstacles to the simultaneous opening of new checkpoints near the settlements “Zolote” and “Happiness” in Luhansk region. Separate aspects related to the mutual release and exchange of persons held in connection with the conflict were also discussed.
On April 28, the plenipotentiary representative of Russia in the TCG Boris Gryzlov said that Moscow’s proposals to reduce tensions in the Donbass were blocked by Kiev at a regular meeting of the group for resolving the conflict in southeastern Ukraine.
On that day, it became known that the TCG members could not agree on a comprehensive mechanism to control the ceasefire. Representatives of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR) proposed seven compromise versions of the document regulating the coordination mechanism for verification and prevention of ceasefire violations, but Kiev did not agree with any of them.
The day before, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the Minsk agreements should be flexible, some clauses should be updated. He added that in order to resolve the conflict in Donbass, in parallel with the Normandy one, another format could be created with the participation of “powerful players” who express a desire to help Ukraine end the war.
Since 2014, Kiev has been conducting a military operation against the residents of Donbass, who refused to recognize the results of the coup and the new government in Ukraine. Kiev blames Moscow for this situation and is trying to win other countries over to its side. Moscow has repeatedly noted that it is not a party to the internal Ukrainian conflict.
The settlement issues are being discussed in the Normandy and Minsk formats – with the participation of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France.