MINSK, 16 May 2018 – The Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG), Ambassador Martin Sajdik, made the following statement to the press after the meeting of the TCG ‎and its Working Groups in Minsk on 16 May 2018:

“At the previous TCG meeting, the situation around Donetsk Filtering Station (DFS) was subject to particular attention. Unfortunately, despite the sides’ security guarantees and the reinforced patrolling by OSCE Special Monitoring Mission, further ceasefire violations near the DFS occurred.

Let me remind you that the DFS, as a part of the enterprise “Voda Donbassa”, provides water for several hundred thousand people on both sides of the contact line.

These issues, among others, were duly considered in the Working Group on Security. At the TCG meeting, it was decided to hold a videoconference of the Working Group on Security concerning the situation in the DFS area next week. In this regard, I call on the sides to provide all the required security guarantees to allow for the uninterrupted operation of the station and to ensure security for DFS employees and SMM monitors.

Besides, the increase in civilian casualties in April raises a major concern. In this respect, I once again call on the sides to do their utmost to avoid civilian casualties. I am determined to repeat these calls to ensure that the interests of the conflict zone residents are properly voiced.

The Working Group on Economic Issues continued its discussion of further steps to restore and improve Vodafone-Ukraine mobile communication in certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions (CADR and CALR). Moreover, the Group considered the topic of water deliveries in Karbonyt system as well as the crucial environmental issues.

The Working Group on Humanitarian Issues continued its discussion on the topics of detainees exchange and the conditions of their detention, missing persons, as well as improving conditions for the contact line crossing via the entry-exit checkpoints.

The Working Group on Political Issues further considered the implementation of the so-called ‘Steinmeier formula’, amnesty and modalities of local elections in CADR and CARL.”