Kyiv, July 26 – Ukrainian Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara has said he believes that the Ukrainian side has made some progress in resolving protracted conflicts as part of its chairmanship of the OSCE.
“We will be active until the end of this year and participate in the settlement of the so-called frozen conflicts, because when we look at the map, we can see that Ukraine is surrounded by these conflicts on all sides,” he said in an exclusive interview with Interfax- Ukraine, while analyzing the results of Ukraine’s six-month presidency of the OSCE.
Kozhara said that the Ukrainian side had “sufficiently stepped up” the process of the settlement of protracted conflicts. He noted in particular the progress made in the Transdniestrian settlement, as part of which three meetings in the 5+2 format have already been held since the beginning of the year.
“We’re now working on the resumption of regular meetings between the leaders of Moldova and Transdniestria. Some obstacles are constantly created along this path, and the biggest of them was a coalition crisis in Moldova, when, in fact, there was no chief negotiator from the Moldovan side for several months,” he said.
Kozhara said that there was a positive dynamics in resolving humanitarian issues in the context of the settlement of the Transdniestrian conflict.
“We propose the territory of Ukraine for meetings between the leaders of the conflicting parties. I think that a positive dynamics will be achieved in this matter, as Ukraine is not only the OSCE chair, but also a guarantor country with Russia in the 5+2 format, as well as the biggest neighbor of Moldova,” he said.
However, he said, revolutionary events should not be expected along this way, and it is necessary to act carefully and consistently.
“As for the south Caucasus countries, the situation here looks much more complicated, because there are deep historical and cultural roots of theconflicts in this region. But we, as the country chairing the OSCE, are actively working in Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. I made visits to these countries, and it is reckoned that Ukraine’s chairmanship is quite successful,” Kozhara said.
