Meeting on Ukraine in Minsk will feature a new mediator

Another round of talks of the contact group on Ukraine and its three sub-working groups will be held on Tuesday in Minsk.

it is anticipated that this meeting will be attended by the new special representative of the head of the OSCE contact group Martin Sajdik.


This is the third round of negotiations of the contact group this month. From the beginning of may, when it launched the mechanism of sub-working groups of the contact group, these meetings have become their own regulations: sub-groups are meeting in the first part of the day, then she contact group hears reports of the coordinators of the subgroups.

conversations occur in a closed to the media, statements on the results of the negotiations, As a rule, they only Authorized the OSCE and envoys of the self-proclaimed Luhansk and Donetsk people's republics.

it is assumed that this time the dialogue will be held according to the same scheme. Announcing last week dialogs June 23, former OSCE representative Heidi Tagliavini said: "We have planned for the upcoming week meeting all 4 subgroups and again in the same cycle, With the subsequent meeting of the trilateral contact group and consultation With the authorized Donetsk and Lugansk."


in the lack of major breakthroughs in negotiations, meetings in Minsk gradually turn into a chore. Meanwhile, the meeting will be special for several reasons.

in Minsk meeting of the contact group is obliged for the first time to visit the new OSCE representative Martin Sajdik. Austrian diplomat, who worked the Ambassador to Vienna At the UN, and served in the Austrian Embassy in the Russian capital, was appointed Chairman Ivica Dacic only on the first day of the week - yesterday the meeting in Minsk. The appointment was announced in a matter of hours after He held a meeting With Deputy of the Ministry of foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Grigory Karasin in Moscow.

about the fact that Sidik will participate in the meeting in Minsk, said the press Secretary of ex-President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma, representing Kiev in the contact group, Daria olifer.

"Twenty on the 3rd of June will be held in Minsk meeting of the trilateral contact group. In this meeting, for the first time will attend the new Commissioner of the head of the OSCE - Austrian diplomat Martin Sajdik, " said olifer.

She also said that on Tuesday there will be a meeting of the three working subgroups - for humanitarian, political, and economic issues. The fourth subgroup on security issues - Tuesday will not conduct the meeting.

This is not the 1st round of negotiations, when the meeting is conducted not all subgroups, but only 3. In previous negotiations has not conducted a meeting of the subgroup on the economy, on June 2 She was also unable to complete the dialogues.

However, in the subgroup on safety on past negotiations have made tangible progress - the parties have reached agreement on the withdrawal of heavy equipment on a caliber of less than 100 millimeters. As stated, the Plenipotentiary Representative LNR Vladislav Danego, the contract is in practice ready and will be signed in a few days.

in the economic sub-group, which for the first time Since may spend a full dialog, the main issue will be the economic blockade, As before said Fins news the Plenipotentiary Representative of the DND Denis Putilin. While later, He also noted that the blockade is on the agenda and other subgroups.


Another innovation in the work of the contact group will be to participate in the meeting authorized international Department of the red cross.

Commissioner of the President of Ukraine on the peaceful settlement Irina Gerashchenko first reported that Authorized the ICRC will start to work of the contact group. She clarified that the Commissioners of the Department will participate in the search and identification of missing persons and to assist in the control and the legitimate transfer of aid from international humanitarian missions.

Authorized organization Ashot Astracan confirmed the participation of the Department in the negotiations.

at the same time, the Plenipotentiary Representative LNR Danego said that the ICRC will not participate in the negotiations specifically. According to his statement at the last meeting of the working group on humanitarian issues were discussed about the fact that at the forthcoming meeting, before the meeting of the working sub-group, data will be presented On the activities of the red cross. He said, because It will not be within the work group, and prior to the meeting, to be held June 23.
June 3 in the area of Marinci has been a serious battle, the victims of which, according to the UN, became 34. The military has accused the militia in the attack, the same called statements of Kiev speculation. Authorized self-proclaimed republics said that the Ukrainian Military continues to pull to the contact line of heavy equipment and jet systems of volley fire, and the intensity of the attacks increased. The authorities DND and LNR pushing that War had brought heavy weapons to a safe distance, regulated by the Minsk agreements. Read


sections: Politics