MINSK, March 13 (Xinhua) -- The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on Wednesday called on the conflicting parties in Donbas in eastern Ukraine to ensure a reliable and stable implementation of cease-fire.
The spring cease-fire in Donbas announced to be implemented from March 8 is not being observed, Martin Sajdik, the OSCE's special envoy to Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) on Ukraine, said in the Belarussian capital of Minsk, where representatives from Ukraine, Russia and the OSCE discussed pressing humanitarian issues in eastern Ukraine during their latest meeting.
According to Sajdik, various working groups discussed a wide range of issues including demining, a list of prisoners for exchange, improving the capacity of checkpoints at the line of contact, restoring the water supply in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, and the payment of pensions to local residents.
Data released by the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry in late February showed the fightings since April 2014 between government troops and the pro-independence armed groups in eastern Ukraine had killed some 13,000 people, injured 30,000 others and displaced 1.5 million.
The TCG's next meeting in Minsk is scheduled for March 27.
