MINSK, 16 October (BelTA) - A regular round of talks to secure peaceful settlement of the situation in eastern Ukraine is underway in Minsk, BelTA learned from the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Trilateral Contact Group is set to convene later in the day.
At the previous meeting of the trilateral contact group on 2 October OSCE's special representative in the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine Martin Sajdik and Ambassador Ertugrul Apakan, Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission, appealed in a joint statement to the sides of the conflict to proceed with the rapid and full humanitarian demining of populated areas and entry-exit crossing points. They recalled that mine action is a commitment that has been undertaken by all the sides to the Minsk agreements.
Additional measures to secure ceasefire were discussed as well. The Economic Working Group continued the discussion of topical issues related to water deliveries in the "Karbonyt" and "Voda Donbasa" supply systems, including further steps to carry out repair works on the south Donbas water pipeline in Avdeevka's industrial zone.
The Humanitarian Working Group further considered issues related to the exchange of detainees and the search for missing persons. One of the discussion topics was also the possibility to improve contact line crossing conditions on the side of certain areas of Lugansk region at the Stanytsia Luhanska check point. The Political Working Group continued work on the implementation of the so-called ‘Steinmeier formula'.
