OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic welcomed today a Declaration adopted by representatives of the OSCE’s 57 Participating States in a special meeting of the Permanent Council in Vienna, calling for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine and the full implementation of the Minsk agreements. The Minister welcomed the Permanent Council’s prompt response to the rapidly deteriorating situation on the ground.

“The Declaration confirms the strong conviction of all the OSCE’s 57 Participating States that the cycle of violence and hostilities in eastern Ukraine cannot be resolved on the battlefield but only at the negotiating table,” Dacic said.
“I call on all parties to immediately proceed to de-escalation of the conflict and implementation of a full ceasefire, and I would like to encourage them to make full use of all conflict-resolution mechanisms at OSCE’s disposal.”
In the Declaration adopted today, OSCE Participating States voiced their “serious concern over the military escalation in recent days in eastern Ukraine” and called “for an immediate ceasefire by all parties and the full implementation of the Minsk Protocol of 5 September 2014, and the Memorandum of 19 September 2014.”
Participating States also expressed their “full support” to the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ambassador Heidi Tagliavini, and called upon “all signatories of the Minsk Protocol and the Memorandum to meet as soon as possible in order to achieve practical progress on the full implementation of the Minsk agreements.”
Supporting all efforts that are being made to de-escalate the crisis, including the efforts in the “Normandy format”, the Declaration emphasizes “that all sides should fully respect and ensure the safety and security of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) monitors on the ground, and fully co-operate with the Mission.”
Ambassador Tagliavini and Chief Monitor of the SMM Ambassador Ertugrul Apakan addressed the Permanent Council via video link.