The Lugansk People’s Republic is initiating an emergency session of the Contact Group subgroup on security issues on October 20, LPR representative at the Minsk talks, the Republic’s Foreign Minister Vladislav Deiengo said.
He reminded that earlier in the day, Ukrainian representatives had derailed the previously agreed session of the security subgroup.
“We’ve renewed our proposals and call an emergency meeting of the working group tomorrow,” Deinego said.
The session derailed by Ukraine on Tuesday had been initiated by the LPR in connection with the abduction by Kiev forces of representative of the LPR Office at the JCCC Andrey Kosyak. Prior to the session, the parties had confirmed their readiness to take part in the video conference.
A Ukrainian army special operations group captured Andrey Kosyak in the Zolotoye security zone on October 13. After Kiev failed to immediately return the observer as the LPR demanded, LPR Head Leonid Pasechnik said that further dialogue with Kiev within the Minsk format made no sense until Ukraine had returned Kosyak. The LPR Office at the JCCC stopped contacts with Ukraine and limited a nummber of movement routes for OSCE monitors. Deputy chief monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission Mark Etherington promised to thoroughly examine the circumstances behind the capture of the LPR officer by Ukrainian forces.
The Ukrainian government launched the so-called anti-terrorist operation against Donbass in April 2014. Conflict settlement relies on the Package of Measures for the Implementation of the Minsk Agreements, signed on February 12, 2015 in the Belarussian capital by the Contact Group members and coordinated by the Normandy Four heads of states (Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine). The UN Security Council approved the document by Resolution No 2202 of February 17, 2015 and called upon the parties to ensure its implementation.
The document provides for comprehensive ceasefire, withdrawal of all heavy weapons from the contact line, starting a dialog on reconstruction of social and economic ties between Kiev and Donbass. It also envisages carrying out constitutional reform in Ukraine providing for decentralization and adopting permanent legislation on a special status of certain areas of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions.
To facilitate the work of the Contact Group, four working groups were set up under its aegis to deal with issues of security, politics, return of internally displaced people and refuges, as well as with social, humanitarian, economic and rehabilitation issues. *i*s
