President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a phone conversation with OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama in order to coordinate efforts for a peaceful settlement in Donbas.
The President thanked the Albanian Chairmanship of the OSCE for giving priority to the issue of restoring the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within the work of the Organization.
The interlocutors discussed the security situation in Donbas and important aspects of the negotiation process within the Normandy format.
The President drew attention to the violations of agreements by the illegal armed groups, including the shelling of Ukrainian positions on September 6 and 10.
"Yesterday, literally during my phone conversation with Chancellor Angela Merkel, the militants opened fire on Ukrainian positions near the village of Shumy, in the area where the meeting of the JCCC and the OSCE was to take place. And the difference between these shots and the previous ones was that these were aimed. We do not want a new escalation. After all, on September 6, as a result of the provocation by the illegal armed groups, we have already suffered losses - one serviceman of the Armed Forces was killed, one was wounded," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
For his part, the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office supported the Ukrainian party's efforts to achieve peace in the region and assured of the Albanian Chairmanship’s readiness to contribute to the restoration of peace. He noted that the steps taken by the Ukrainian President and the Ukrainian people towards peace are very courageous. He also stressed that he regrets the lack of mutual movement of the opposite party in this direction. The Prime Minister of Albania noted that the OSCE is an impartial organization, yet not indifferent.
In this context, the interlocutors noted the importance of ensuring full, unhindered access of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to the entire uncontrolled territory.
As the OSCE SMM's mandate is not limited to Donbas, Volodymyr Zelenskyy highlighted Ukraine's expectations that the monitoring mission would also pay due attention to the situation in the temporarily occupied Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol.
At the end of the conversation, Edi Rama invited Volodymyr Zelenskyy to visit Albania.