YouSaid · the spoken record

Heidi Grau

lines on the record
7
first
2021-02-11
most recent
2021-02-11
sittings or episodes
1
sources
un-security-council

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

  1. “Therefore, it is high time all sides showed commitment and responsibility. The mediating team of the OSCE, for its part, will do whatever it can to move forward on substance.”

    2021-02-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/159 (2021) · source

  2. “I am grateful to see the involvement of the political advisers of the Normandy Four, actively searching for ways out of the impasse. While the Normandy Four leaders did not assign any specific task to the Working Group on Economic Affairs, the Group continued its indispensable efforts on a variety of issues, such as the maintenance of vital infrastructure, environmental threats and pension payments. This work directly impacts people’s daily lives and well-being on both sides of the contact line. In conclusion, let me sum up my remarks as follows. The past year brought a radical reduction of ceasefire violations. But latest tendencies have shown that it will be difficult to maintain the relative calm on the front line if we remain blocked on humanitarian and political issues.”

    2021-02-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/159 (2021) · source

  3. “In the first months of 2020, the Political Working Group undertook considerable efforts to find common ground, intensively discussing the Ukrainian Law on Special Status and possible ways to integrate the so-called “Steinmeier formula” into this document. While this work yielded some results, all discussions in the Political Working Group stalled in August 2020 when some participants demanded that Ukraine’s Parliament repeal a resolution on local elections before discussion could continue. In an attempt to overcome that stalemate, participants convened at the end of October to elaborate a concrete time-bound action plan for the implementation of the Minsk agreements. This is a very challenging task. Regrettably, this discussion in the Trilateral Contact Group has so far been a dead end.”

    2021-02-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/159 (2021) · source

  4. “While we have been observing a worrisome trend towards more ceasefire violations in recent weeks, we must acknowledge that the number of ceasefire violations observed by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Special Monitoring Mission is still significantly lower than in the first half of last year. Not enough progress has been achieved with regard to disengagement and demining. While participants identified 19 new demining areas and four disengagement zones in the course of last summer, implementation was made conditional on indirectly related political issues by some participants of the Trilateral Contact Group. It is a source of great concern that progress on humanitarian and security- related issues fails due to political considerations.”

    2021-02-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/159 (2021) · source

  5. “After years of relative isolation, this step would have helped to facilitate people-to–people contacts and to provide relief, especially to elderly citizens unable to collect their pensions on Government-controlled territory. Unfortunately, three months after their scheduled opening, both checkpoints remain unilaterally closed, while negotiations on technical details are ongoing. And yet I remain optimistic that these questions can be solved and the checkpoints be opened soon. The most important step last year was the Trilateral Contact Group agreement of 22 July on additional measures to stabilize the ceasefire. It brought long-awaited relief to people on both sides of the contact line.”

    2021-02-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/159 (2021) · source

  6. “On the positive side, with regard to the release and exchange of conflict-related detainees following the principle “all for all”, another step was taken in April, when 34 prisoners were released from detention. However, negotiations later slowed down, with participants accusing each other of failing to honour their commitments. I very much hope that this year will allow us to move forward on this vital humanitarian issue. On another Normandy task — the opening of two additional checkpoints along the contact line — the participants committed to the parallel opening of two checkpoints in the Luhansk region by 10 November 2020.”

    2021-02-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/159 (2021) · source

  7. “I thank you, Madam President, for this opportunity to provide the Security Council with an update on the work of the Trilateral Contact Group. Considerable developments have occurred since my last report to the Security Council, in February 2020 (see S/PV.8726). Travel restrictions imposed after the onset of the coronavirus-disease pandemic forced us to hold our biweekly Trilateral Contact Group meetings by video-teleconference from late March. Such restrictions have also made it much more difficult for Ukrainians to meet relatives on the other side of the contact line. The Trilateral Contact Group continued its efforts towards the implementation of the Minsk agreements, in general, and the 2019 Normandy summit tasks, in particular. Where do we stand today?”

    2021-02-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/2021/159 (2021) · source