BERLIN, December 23. /TASS/. Germany’s and France’s foreign ministries have welcomed the intention of the Trilateral Contact Group to observe the measures on strengthening the ceasefire in Donbass and promote the improvement of the security situation ahead of Christmas, according to a joint stamen released by the German foreign ministry on Thursday.
"We welcome that participants of the session of the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) expressed their strong determination to fully adhere to the Measures to Strengthen the Ceasefire Agreement of 22 July 2020, thus significantly contributing to the security situation along the contact line before Christmas," the statement says. "We urge the sides to respect the ceasefire and to continue discussions on further steps in the humanitarian field, e.g. the opening of crossing points and the exchange of detainees, along with the rest of the Conclusions of the 2019 Paris Summit."
Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group Mikko Kinnunen said on Wednesday that the Contact Group had agreed to return to monitoring the ceasefire in Donbass. According to Russia’s chief negotiator Boris Gryzlov, Ukrainian representatives keep on blocking any peace initiatives of the Donbass republics. Thus, Ukraine is doing practically nothing to observe the ceasefire in Donbass.
Additional measures to control the ceasefire along the contact line in Donbass have been in force since July 27, 2020. However, the situation in Donbass has been escalating since late February 2021, with shootouts reported from the contact line quite frequently and casualties reported on both sides, including among civilians. The situation further escalated after October 13, when Ukrainian security service captured an officer of the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) mission to the Joint Control and Coordination Center.