SECURITY COUNCIL
Briefing on Ukraine
APRIL 28th, 2016
Statement
Mr. President,
We welcome and thank the Assistant Secretary General Mr. Tayé-Brook Zerihoun, the Head of the OSCE Monitoring Mission, Ambassador Apakan and Ambassador Martin Sajdik, the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson in Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group, for their briefings.
We reiterate our support to the Implementation of the Package of Measures agreed in Minsk, on 12 February 2015, and to a permanent cease fire, as the prerequisite for the speedy implementation of the Minsk Agreement Package of Measures, and ultimately the establishment of durable and sustainable Peace in Ukraine.
We are deeply concerned by the worsening of the conflict in Eastern Ukraine. The reports of increasing ceasefire violations, mainly in the Donetsk region, with hundreds of explosions recorded from 11 to 17 April 2016, and explosions from light and heavy weapons in some areas of the Luhansk region are matters of concern.
We regret the restrictions imposed on the freedom of movement of the Special Monitoring Mission; and express our total disproval that heavy weapons, previously withdrawn from the front lines, are missing from the permanent storage sites and being used by belligerents, in a clear violation of the respective withdrawal lines.
Also of concern is the situation of internally displaced persons, as a consequences of the reported incidents, while humanitarian access is increasingly restricted and serious security incidents are reported.
We regret such constraints on humanitarian access and urge all parties to the conflict to facilitate safe, rapid and unimpeded access by humanitarian organizations to the areas and people in need.
Once again we call for the immediate cessation of hostilities, the withdrawal of all heavy weapons, and the full implementation of the Package of Measures of the Minsk Agreement. We further call for the facilitation of full access for OSCE Special Monitoring Mission, in monitoring and verifying the compliance of the Minsk Agreements, and urge the strict respect for international commitments agreed under international guarantees, so the people of Ukraine are allowed to live in peace, freedom and security.
Finally, we reiterate our support for the peaceful resolution of conflicts through dialogue and negotiations, and the strict respect for the principles of international law, the unity, sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine.
I thank you Mr. President