Brussels, 17/02/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 16 February, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini said that the EU and its delegation in Kiev were working “round the clock” to support the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in monitoring implementation of the Minsk agreement on the ground. Support to the OSCE is technical and financial, she stated. “We see our role as critical, crucial, not just sitting and waiting to see if the agreement holds but doing everything we can to [ensure] the agreement is implemented and that it works”, she told a press conference in Madrid.
According to a European source, the EU's help can include further support for monitoring and border control (for example, through additional support to the OSCE), continued support for reform (including decentralisation), possible facilitation of further energy discussions, continuation of consultations (including in trilateral format with Russia about its concerns) on the EU-Ukraine association agreement, more humanitarian aid, and other measures. “Diplomatic contacts are ongoing”, this source told EUROPE.
Elsewhere, during the morning of Tuesday 17 February, Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Ukrainian and Russian presidents, Petro Poroshenko and Vladimir Putin, decided on “concrete measures” to enable the OSCE observers to monitor the ceasefire in East Ukraine. Mogherini's spokesperson, Catherine Ray, regretted the fact that the OSCE observers have reportedly met with difficulty on the ground - with the separatists having refused them access to Debaltseve over recent days.
“The withdrawal of heavy weapons must begin today on 17 February, as provided for” in the Minsk agreement, Ray stated. Five Ukrainian soldiers were killed and fourteen wounded in fighting in East Ukraine on 16 February. “A ceasefire is a ceasefire. The firing must stop”, said Mogherini on 17 February. She also stated that that the EU is concerned because of the fighting in and around Debaltseve. (Camille-Cerise Gessant)