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Foreign Minister Maas on the agreement reached by the Trilateral Contact Group
Foreign Minister Heiko Maas today (1 October) issued the following statement on the Trilateral Contact Group’s agreement on the text of the “Steinmeier formula”:
I am pleased that the constructive atmosphere within the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk today brought the progress for which we have long been hoping. This opens the door for an N4 summit and further steps to implement the Minsk agreements.
Background information:
In Minsk today (1 October), the Trilateral Contact Group (Ukraine, Russia, OSCE, with the involvement of representatives of the non-government-controlled areas) agreed on the text of the “Steinmeier formula” and on the start of disengagement in two further pilot zones (Zolote, Petrivske).
The “Steinmeier formula” deals with one aspect of the Minsk agreements: the provisional entry into force of the special status law on the day of local elections in the non-government-controlled areas and its permanent application once the ODIHR has given a positive assessment of the course of the elections.
Up until now, disengagement has taken place only in Stanytsia Luhanska (since 26 June 2019). Work to reconstruct the bridge there is already underway.