Ukraine calls on OSCE not to forget about Russian aggression due to coronavirus

Ukraine's Permanent Representative to the International Organizations in Vienna Yevhenii Tsymbaliuk said this during the first online meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council on Thursday, April 23, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"Regretfully, we are in the middle of a major world crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, we must not forget about the ongoing aggression of one participating State against another one. Russia's armed attack against Ukraine continues to take the lives, wellbeing and future of Ukrainian citizens," Tsymbaliuk said in his statement in response to reports by Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group Heidi Grau and SMM Chief Monitor Halit Cevik.

Expressing gratitude to Ambassador Grau for her mediation efforts to facilitate negotiations between Ukraine and Russia within the Trilateral Contact Group, the diplomat said that the most recent mutual release of the conflict-related detainees last Thursday became the only bright spot in the last few months.

"We encourage Special Representative and the entire team of Albanian Chairmanship to keep a particular focus on this issue. Negotiations must continue without any interruption, as was the case yesterday, on April 22, in the online format. We urge the Russian side to release all Ukrainian political prisoners, illegally held behind bars in the occupied parts of Ukraine and in the territory of the Russian Federation," Tsymbaliuk said.

He stressed that the COVID‑19 pandemic should also not serve as an excuse for the Russian side to prevent the access of the ICRC, as well as other international bodies, to the persons detained by the Russian armed formations in Donbas. "I would remind that the Government of Ukraine made a duly exception for the representatives of the monitoring and human rights missions, including the SMM and the ICRC. They enjoy the right to cross the contact line in accordance with the earlier established procedures," Tsymbaliuk said.

He stressed the importance of returning control of the Ukrainian-Russian border to the Government of Ukraine. "This will serve as a good basis to stop violence in Donbas, brought by Russia. As reiterated recently by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the local elections in Donbas will take place after the withdrawal of the illegal armed formations and return of the border. We reiterate in this context the necessity of establishment of an additional Working Group within the TCG," Tsymbaliuk said.

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