VIENNA, 19 February 2015 - OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Serbia’s Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić today met his Special Representative in Ukraine Ambassador Heidi Tagliavini, OSCE Chief Monitor in Ukraine Ambassador Ertugrul Apakan and OSCE Chief Observer at the Russian Checkpoints Gukovo and Donetsk Paul Picard, who informed the Chair about their activities and the challenges they face in their work.

In discussing recent developments in eastern Ukraine, they reiterated that the peaceful resolution of the conflict is the only way forward and depends on full implementation by all sides of the Minsk package of measures agreed on 12 February.

“This is a critical moment for Ukraine,” said Dačić. “I am concerned that the continuous breaches of the ceasefire, as reported by the Special Monitoring Mission, may lead to uncontrolled violence. Once again I urge an immediate halt to any kind of activities that might put in danger the window of opportunity that the 12 February talks in Minsk created for peace.”

All parties to the Minsk package had a responsibility to comply with the ceasefire - especially in regards to people in the affected areas - as the basis for implementing the next steps envisioned by the agreement, said Dačić. “The only way forward is implementation of the Memorandum and Minsk Protocol from September 2014 and a peaceful solution of the conflict in Ukraine,” he added.