Events

“The working groups have kicked off their meetings in Minsk ahead of the talks of the trilateral contact group promoting peace settlement in eastern Ukraine,” the ministry said.

The trilateral contact group last met in the Belarusian capital on 27 October to discuss ceasefire violations. The working group on humanitarian affairs focused on exchanging prisoners of war and issuing documents to the previously released persons. Participants of the working group on economic affairs discussed ways to settle the debts that former Ukrainian Railways employees are owed in several areas of Donetsk Oblast and Lugansk Oblast. Apart from that, the group discussed water supply and the safety of critical infrastructure. Preparations for negotiations on future water supply via the Karbonit system were made. The working group on political affairs discussed matters relating to the so-called Steinmeier formula in view of the extended effect of the law on the special status of several areas of Donetsk Oblast and Lugansk Oblast and the Normandy Four talks.