The Chairperson of the OSCE in Ukraine and the Trilateral Contact Group on Donbass, Heidi Grau, was forced to suspend the meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group on the situation in Donbass due to Russia’s violation of the confidentiality regime. On Thursday, October 1, Interfax-Ukraine writes about this with reference to a source close to the negotiation process.
According to the agency, the Russian side warned about the conduct of audio and video recording of the negotiations, which had not been agreed in advance, in addition, the head of the delegation said that Moscow intends to unilaterally publish the recordings.
Grau suggested using the pause to develop a common code of conduct and information policy for all negotiators. The Ukrainian side agreed with her.
In turn, Kiev emphasized that “no one has the right to violate the principles of the TCG’s activities, single-handedly carrying out actions that contradict the agreements reached and the international practice of negotiations.”
On September 24, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that a meeting of political advisers to the heads of the Normandy Four (Germany, Russia, Ukraine, France) will take place in the near future, and a decision on the summit of heads of state will be made based on its results.
Since 2014, Kiev has been conducting a military operation against the residents of Donbass, who refused to recognize the results of the coup. The Ukrainian side declares that it is waging a war against Russia. Moscow has repeatedly noted that it is not a party to the internal Ukrainian conflict, and urged Kiev to fulfill the Minsk agreements and conduct direct negotiations with the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR).
The settlement of the situation is being discussed within the framework of a trilateral contact group – authorized representatives of Ukraine, the OSCE and Russia – and the Normandy format with the mediation of Russia, France and Germany.