Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) Ambassador Heidi Grau announced that the security situation in the occupied territories of Eastern Ukraine is deteriorating.
The statement was published in an OSCE press release on July 7 after the last meeting of the Tripartite Contact Group.
Grau noted that the last two weeks have seen a visible increase in ceasefire violations and a deterioration of security in areas of distribution of forces. The OSCE additionally expressed concern about the restrictions on the freedom of movement of its Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) representatives in the occupied regions and the deliberate disruptions of the Mission’s technical means of monitoring.
Over the past week, the OSCE SMM’s freedom of movement in the occupied territories has been restricted 15 times, the Ukrainian TCG delegation reported.
The Ukrainian delegation also appealed to the OSCE with a request to facilitate a visit of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors to the temporarily occupied territories in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts to check the condition of nuclear materials at the facilities.
In response to the recent build-up of the Russian military near the Ukrainian border, repeated ceasefire violations and deliberate obstructions of the OSCE mission in the occupied territories of the Donetsk and Luhansk territories, the Ukrainian delegation has asserted its commitment to working on ensuring the opening of entry-exit checkpoints on the Russian side, restoring a full and comprehensive ceasefire, agreeing on a mine clearance plan, insisting on the release of all conflict-related detainees, and creating safe conditions for the functioning of facilities meeting the needs of the civilian population.
“Unfortunately, the Russian side remains unreceptive to any proposals or initiatives,” the Ukrainian TCG delegation commented.
Meanwhile, the newly appointed coordinator of the Humanitarian Working Group, Charlotta Relander, also called on Russia to speed up preparations for the next stage of simultaneous mutual prisoner release, the TCG posted on Telegram on July 8.
