President of Ukraine

We are on our way to Berlin. Ukraine consistently fulfills the agreements of the Paris Summit in the Normandy format - Head of the Ukrainian delegation to the TCG Leonid Kravchuk

16 September 2020 - 21:46

The regular meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) was held by video conference with the participation of the delegations of Ukraine, the Russian Federation and under the OSCE moderation. The talks lasted about seven hours.

The participants of the meeting stated that the ceasefire regime, introduced on July 27 this year, has been observed, despite some provocative attacks by illegal armed groups.

The Ukrainian delegation called for exhaustive measures to preserve a comprehensive regime of silence, in particular through the proper implementation of a package of additional measures to maintain the ceasefire regime.

Head of the Ukrainian delegation Leonid Kravchuk thanked the OSCE and its Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine for their mediation efforts aimed at resolving the international armed conflict in Donbas.

"We have never questioned the mandate of the OSCE and we are against its transfer to anyone," he said.

Particular attention was paid to the implementation of the agreements reached in Paris by the leaders of the member states of the Normandy format on ensuring full and unconditional access of the International Committee of the Red Cross to all detainees. Such access is provided by the Ukrainian party in full, which is confirmed by reports on the work of international humanitarian organizations in Ukraine.

Ukraine's position on the access of the ICRC to detainees in the temporarily occupied territories of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine, which must be ensured in the near future, has been clearly stated.

The discussion of the issue of preparation for the next stage of mutual release of detainees under the "all for all" principle was continued. The Ukrainian party reiterated that Ukrainians illegally detained in the temporarily occupied territories should be released immediately and without any political conditions.

"The adoption of laws and resolutions is the exclusive competence and prerogative of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine," the Head of the Ukrainian delegation to the TCG responded to the reproach about the urgent need for the parliament to adopt an alternative resolution on holding local elections in 2020.

At the same time, the discussion of working proposals for draft documents on self-government in certain districts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine will continue within the work of the TCG political group, as envisaged by the package of measures to implement the Minsk agreements.

Leonid Kravchuk stressed that "the Ukrainian delegation respects the Normandy format and the Minsk agreements and is ready to work constructively and consistently to restore Ukraine's territorial integrity and achieve peace".

"We have always fulfilled and will continue to fulfill all agreements, including ceasefire," he added.