Chancellor Angela Merkel has spoken at length by telephone with Presidents Hollande, Poroshenko and Putin. They all agreed that progress must urgently be made on implementing the Minsk Protocol. They also discussed specific proposed solutions, especially regarding the exchange of prisoners.
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The Minsk Protocol, signed on 5 September provides for the withdrawal of heavy weapons, an exchange of prisoners and the monitoring of both the ceasefire and the Ukrainian-Russian border by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). One main concern, in view of the coming winter, is to improve the humanitarian situation in eastern Ukraine.
The Chancellor spoke to the Ukrainian President last weekend. They agreed that a meeting of the Contact Group is urgently needed, reported deputy federal government spokesperson Christiane Wirtz on Monday in Berlin. A meeting was originally planned for the weekend but did not in fact take place.
A meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine is to make progress on key issues. "The first major issue is the demarcation of the contact line, and the second the exchange of prisoners." There is also a high level of interest in the humanitarian situation in the areas controlled by separatists. "Both the Ukrainian government and the EU have declared their willingness to provide humanitarian assistance." To ensure that this assistance can be delivered safely, the signatures of all members of the Contact Group are needed.
The Contact Group consists of representatives of Ukraine, Russia and the OSCE. They last negotiated a ceasefire on 5 September in Minsk (Belarus) with representatives of the separatists in eastern Ukraine. The ceasefire was subsequently repeatedly violated.