Negotiators of the Contact Group’s security group were actively discussing specific coordinates of potential disengagement areas, as well as a draft supplement to the Framework Decision necessary for implementing further withdrawal of forces and weapons.
“Talks in the subgroup on security were quite tense, the Ukrainian side tried to sabotage a direct discussion with our representatives on the boundaries of new areas. At the same time, the stance of negotiators from Kiev remained unchanged, they did not come up with any compromise proposals.
All these factors were not constructive, so did not lead to any progress in approving the boundaries of new areas. At the moment, all the areas previously proposed are remaining at the drafting stage, of which two of three conditionally coincide in out territory: the area of the Oktyabr-Gnutovo checkpoint and the Donetsk Filter Station-Avdeyevka industrial zone.
In this regard, the Contact Group instructed that members of the subgroup on security elaborate within a week compromise proposals for absolutely all the potential areas previously proposed. Note that our negotiators worked out and proposed compromise options at the previous meeting on February 26, which, unfortunately, remained unnoticed by the Ukrainian side,” Foreign Minister Natalya Nikonorova told.
Due to the ongoing escalation at the line of contact, the plenipotentiary representatives of the Republics to the Contact Group, as part of the work of the subgroup on security, demanded that the Ukrainian side comply with the additional measures for strengthening and monitoring the indefinite ceasefire, including the conduct of necessary investigations, which was agreed upon back in July 2019.