OSCE envoy: TCG reiterates commitment to sustainable and unlimited ceasefire

Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) Ambassador Martin Sajdik has said members of the TCG's security subgroup have reiterated their commitment to a comprehensive, sustainable and unlimited ceasefire.

Read alsoOSCE monitors report about 264 explosions in Donbas in 24 hours"Continued compliance with ceasefire was the main topic at the video conference of the Working Group on Security on January 29. Guided by the TCG statement of December 20, 2017, the Working Group members reiterated their commitment to a comprehensive, sustainable and unlimited ceasefire," Sajdik said in a press statement after the TCG meeting on January 31, 2018.

"At the same time, they once again stressed 'the necessity to publish and comply with orders, including the need for disciplinary measures for violating the ceasefire,'" he said.

Sajdik mentioned that the number of ceasefire violations had remained on a lower level in the recent weeks compared to the records before the recommitment to cessation of fire in connection with the Christmas and New Year holidays in late 2017.

"However, lately the number of ceasefire violations has slightly increased," he said.

According to Sajdik, participants in the Working Group on Security also discussed issues related to the withdrawal of forces and hardware, removal of heavy weapons and mine clearance. They also touched on the possibilities to repair civil infrastructure facilities and clear approaches to entry-exit checkpoints from mines and vegetation.