Chairman of the OSCE in Ukraine and the Trilateral Contact Group on Donbass Heidi Grau suspended the meeting of the group due to Russia's violation of the confidentiality regime. This is reported by “Interfax-Ukraine” with reference to a source.
According to him, the Russian side announced that it would conduct audio and video recording of the talks. However, this was not agreed in advance. In addition, the head of the delegation said that Moscow intends to unilaterally publish the recordings.
Grau suggested taking a break in the group's work to develop a common code of conduct and information policy for all negotiators. The position of the OSCE representative was supported by the Ukrainian delegation.
In addition, Kiev noted that no one has the right to violate the principles of the TCG, “single-handedly carrying out actions that contradict the agreements reached and the international practice of negotiations.”
Earlier, the plenipotentiary of Russia in the contact group on Donbass, Boris Gryzlov, said that Kiev had actually stopped fulfilling the Minsk agreements. According to him, the website of the President of Ukraine contains a phrase about the intention to return the temporarily occupied territories “exclusively on Ukrainian terms.”
The conflict in Donbass has been going on for over six years. In April 2014, the Ukrainian authorities launched a military operation against the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, which proclaimed independence from Kiev after a coup d'etat in the country. The 2015 Minsk agreements provide for a constitutional reform coordinated with representatives of Donbass in Ukraine, local elections, as well as granting the region a special status.
