Opinions & Interviews

According to the statement, the participants in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) came to Minsk for consultations with the representatives of the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Lugansk with a detailed plan for the concrete implementation of the Minsk Protocol and Memorandum (signed in September 2014), “which continue to be the indispensable basis for any peaceful settlement.”

In the TCG statement the OSCE expressed regret that the signatories of the September 2014 documents from Donetsk and Lugansk did not participate, although they had been personally invited by the Trilateral Contract Group. According to the OSCE press release, their representatives who were present in Minsk on 31 January were not in a position to discuss the proposal put forward by the TCG. Moreover, the TCG participants believe that they were not even prepared to discuss implementation of a ceasefire and withdrawal of heavy weapons.

“Instead, they called for revision of the Protocol and Memorandum. The meeting was adjourned,” the TCG statement runs.

“The TCG remains open to continuing consultations at any time. In view of the seriously deteriorating situation (in the south-east of Ukraine – BelTA’s note) and the growing numbers of casualties, the TCG calls on all actors involved to engage responsibly in the comprehensive implementation of the Minsk documents with no further delays,” the participants of the TCG consultations on Ukraine state.