Over 103 days of the ceasefire regime established on July 27 in Donbas, the number of fallen Ukrainian servicemen has decreased tenfold compared to last year. But Ukraine still has combat losses, which is why it is so important to continue moving towards ending the war and achieving peace, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
"Unfortunately, there are three combat losses over this time, over 103 days of the ceasefire. There is no absolute silence, unfortunately. But if we see the real numbers, we understand that in these 103 days the number of shelling occasions has decreased five and a half times and the number of fallen Ukrainian servicemen has decreased tenfold,” the Head of State said during a working trip to Donbas.
The President noted that the reduction in the number of combat losses of the Ukrainian party is the result of the work of the Ukrainian military, diplomats, the Ukrainian delegation to the Trilateral Contact Group and head of the delegation Leonid Kravchuk.
"This is the beginning of the path to restoring our territorial integrity and ending the war. Without such difficult steps, there will be no desired result," Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed.
The Head of State expressed confidence that peace in Donbas is possible.
"Without faith you cannot win. You cannot live without faith. And without faith, I'm sure, everything would be frozen, as in previous years, and there would be no steps forward. That is why we live with this faith. Not only with faith and words, but also with real steps," he said.
Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak noted that the negotiation process is underway within several platforms, and we can already talk about some achievements.
On Friday, the Head of State together with representatives of diplomatic missions visited the new modern checkpoint "Shchastya" on the line of delimitation. This and another checkpoint in Zolote will start operating on November 10, in accordance with the agreements reached within the Trilateral Contact Group with the support of Ukraine's international partners.
"If we talk about the Trilateral Contact Group, the latest developments this week - Ukraine presented its action plan, which was sent to Ms. Grau (Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine Heidi Grau - ed.), in the TCG. That is, this action plan provides all the necessary conditions for ending the war in Donbas. Therefore, I hope that it will be considered next week," the Head of the President's Office emphasized.
According to Andriy Yermak, on Tuesday, November 10, the work of the Trilateral Contact Group will continue in the format of a video conference.
"And on November 13, we agreed to hold a video conference of advisors in the Normandy format. I think we will also consider the proposal of the Ukrainian party. We will continue to talk in both formats about such important things as the return of our people who are now illegally detained in the uncontrolled territory" the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine noted.
He stressed that the Ukrainian party is working 24/7 to bring peace to the east of the country.
"This is a priority of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a priority of the whole team," Andriy Yermak added.
