Significant progress has been made in the Ukrainian conflict for the first time

After the meeting in the format of the Normandy Four, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier was optimistic that appropriate agreements between the warring parties could be signed in the coming weeks.

In his statement, Steinmeier noted the following:

We have already met seven times in the Normandy format, and in the end, I can say with relief that this meeting was the least confrontational and more successful.

But today's discussions also showed how laborious it is, which remains under threat of any kind, even now, and what we have achieved today must be put into practice in the contact group.
What have we achieved?

Safety

We will implement this through our commitment to an agreement on the withdrawal of weapons from the conflict zone. An agreement between Kiev and Moscow, mediated by the OSCE, is nearing achievement. We insist on unhindered access for the OSCE throughout the entire conflict zone.

Political process

Finally, we can say that the key to the implementation of the Minsk agreements has been found. The terms and conditions of local elections will be drawn up by the Policy Working Group within the Trilateral Contact Group. The agreements are based on the proposals of the Coordinator of the relevant working group Pierre Morel and the Minsk Agreement.

Everything else about the electoral process remains controversial and difficult. The status and issues of constitutional reform must now be quickly addressed in the working groups of the Contact Group. Proposals for this are on the table and, in our opinion, are a good basis for upcoming decisions.

Humanitarian and economic process

Now we must think about the coming winter. We do not want to experience a repeat of last winter's humanitarian crisis. Therefore, there was general agreement that further concrete steps were not only useful but urgently needed.

We ensure that humanitarian agencies have unhindered access to people in conflict zones. We must also use the remaining time before winter to reach our own proposed projects and implement an economic approach as soon as possible. Especially with water supply, there is still much to be done.

The fact remains that the Minsk process operates or falls depending on the political will of the parties to the conflict. We agreed on an early October meeting of the heads of state and the chancellor in Paris.

Based on materials from http://www.doomsday.in.ua/