Brussels, 14/04/2015 (Agence Europe) - During the evening of Monday 13 April, the Normandy-format foreign ministers of Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine - Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Laurent Fabius, Serguei Lavrov and Pavlo Klimkin respectively - called for the full ceasefire in Eastern Ukraine to be respected.
“We express our grave concern at the recent outbreak of fights over the last weekend, including the use of heavy weapons around Shyrokine and Donetsk Airport. We call on all sides to stop fighting and demonstrate their commitment to fully implementing the ceasefire”, the ministers said in a joint statement, published after a meeting which lasted several hours. They called on the parties to cooperate with the OSCE special monitoring mission (SMM) in order to de-escalate the situation in Shyrokine and Donetsk Airport.
On Sunday 12 April, the OSCE recorded 1,166 explosions “caused mainly by shelling and mortar attacks near Donetsk. According to the local authorities faithful to the Ukrainian government, in Lugansk, the situation has “widely deteriorated”.
The ministers also called for the “withdrawal of heavy weapons” as soon as possible, to be fully and transparently verified by the OSCE monitors and for the withdrawal of “mortars and heavy weapons below 100mm as well as all types of tanks”. They called on the trilateral contact group - which brings together Ukraine, Russia and the OSCE - to agree on a relevant schedule.
The ministers announced their resolve to set up four “working groups within the trilateral contact group as soon as possible” which will work on “security, political process, humanitarian issues, and economic affairs and rehabilitation” in the conflict zone.
The Normandy-format ministers also made a new call for the permanent and unhindered access of the OSCE SMM to implement its mandate and the Minsk agreement.
The political directors were tasked with continuing to supervise implementation of the Minsk package, with strong emphasis on a rapid launch of the working groups and on the sustainable improvement of the security situation.
According to Steinmeier, this call goes “beyond” the Minsk agreement signed on 12 February. (Camille-Cerise Gessant)