Chief of the Ukrainian delegation to the Trilateral Contact Group on Donbas settlement, Leonid Kravchuk, offered that the Russian counterparts ensure compliance with the comprehensive ceasefire in Donbas starting April 1, but the Russian delegation showed no support for the initiative.
That's according to a report by the Ukrainian delegation following today's general TCG meeting at the level of delegations heads.
The meeting kicked off with a proposal by Kravchuk "to ensure, from 00:00 on April 1, compliance with the full and comprehensive preservation of the ceasefire regime, the gross violation of which by the Russian side last week claimed the lives of four Ukrainian servicemen."
The proposal was supported by special envoy of the OSCE chairperson-in-office, Heidi Grau, and coordinator of the security subgroup, chairman of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission Yasar Halit Cevik.
Read alsoDonbas war update: Ukraine records eight ceasefire violations on March 30Cevik "proposed to adopt a joint agreed TCG statement to confirm the parties' desire to strengthen the ceasefire and save the lives of civilians and military."
The Ukrainian delegation said that two of the three TCG representatives made concrete proposals to ensure a return to a full and comprehensive ceasefire.
"Unfortunately, neither the proposal of Leonid Kravchuk, nor that of OSCE representatives found support from the Russian delegation," the statement underlines.
It is also emphasized that "this happened despite the relevant statements by the leaders of Germany and France, in which they yesterday stressed the need to observe the ceasefire in Donbas."
In this regard, Kravchuk said: "I fail to understand why the Russian delegation doesn't consider it necessary to focus on saving people's lives."
Latest escalation in Donbas
On March 26, in Donbas, near the village of Shumy, four servicemen with the Armed Forces of Ukraine were killed by Russian snipers, while two more were wounded.
Read alsoUkraine Army ready to repulse enemy in case Russia goes for escalation in Donbas – Military chiefIn this regard, President Volodymyr Zelensky instructed Ukraine's delegation to the Trilateral Contact Group on Donbas settlement to initiate an urgent meeting of the security subgroup, as well as to urgently discuss this issue at the level of advisers to the leaders of the Normandy Four.
The head of state also planned to hold separate talks with all leaders of the Normandy Four in the near future.
