The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe has said that illegal armed groups operating in eastern Ukraine do not want to hold talks on a bilateral ceasefire and urges them to return immediately to respective consultations, reads a statement by the trilateral contact group on the settlement of the situation in eastern Ukraine, which was published on the OSCE Web site on Tuesday, July 15.
“Unfortunately, a video conference with the separatists, scheduled
for today with the aim of agreeing on modalities for a next round of
consultations, and agreed upon at the highest international level, did
not materialize. The Contact Group is seriously concerned about the fact
that since June 27, no such consultations have taken place. In the
opinion of the Contact Group, this indicates a lack of willingness on
the side of the separatists to engage in substantive talks on a mutually
agreed cease-fire,” reads the document.
“The Contact Group reconfirms its support to [Ukrainian] President
[Petro] Poroshenko’s Peace Plan and to the commitments stated in the
Joint Declaration in Berlin on July 2, 2014. The Contact Group appeals
to the separatists to return to consultations without further delay. The
Group stresses that a sustained cease-fire will require the following
principles to be observed: an OSCE supported monitoring and verification
mechanism coming into effect simultaneously with the entry into force
of the cease-fire, the implementation of an effective border monitoring,
the release of all hostages, the start of inclusive dialogue,” reads
the statement.
The report notes that the trilateral contact group of senior
representatives of Ukraine, Russia and the OSCE met in Kyiv on July 15,
2014.
The OSCE noted that following the understanding reached during recent
telephone conversations by Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE, Swiss
President Didier Burkhalter, with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin, and based on the results
of a conference call between the foreign ministers of France, Germany,
Ukraine and the head of the Russian presidential administration, the
Trilateral Contact Group has made all necessary efforts for a resumption
of consultations with representatives of the separatists in the east of
Ukraine.
