TCG political group unable to hold meeting due to procedural issues – Grau

Pending procedural issues again prevented the political working group within the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) from holding a formal session on Wednesday.

The Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG), Ambassador Heidi Grau, said this in a statement after the regular meetings of the TCG ‎and its Working Groups held through video conferencing on July 21.

"Pending procedural issues again prevented the Political Working Group from holding a formal session. During the informal consultations, it was not possible to find a constructive solution and resume the work by overcoming political disagreements and to fulfil the tasks given by the TCG," Grau said.

Participants in the Humanitarian Working Group exchanged updated lists of persons they are looking for. Besides, they discussed the "procedural clearance" of those already released. Once again, no progress was achieved regarding the full operation of new crossing points in Zolote and Shchastia of the Luhansk region. The last part of the discussion was devoted to the topic of missing persons.

The Economic Working Group discussed a wide range of themes: water supplies, pension payments as well as IAEA inspection in certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Special attention was again paid to environmental issues. In particular, it was possible to advance discussions as regards the establishment of an expert group to investigate the situation in the flooded mines along the line of contact.

"As Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group, I chaired my last meeting today … My successor, Ambassador Mikko Kinnunen, will take up his post on 1 August. I wish him a productive and successful tenure," Grau stressed.

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