Deputy foreign ministers from the Normandy Quartet countries have reaffirmed the key role of the trilateral Contact Group for Ukraine in helping its sub-groups achieve 'substantial' progress in their work, according to a press release circulated by the French Embassy in Moscow on Thursday.

The press release, which was issued following a meeting of the deputy foreign ministers of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine in Paris on Wednesday, says the parties mentioned the "conclusion and implementation of the de-escalation plan for Shyrokyne" among their priorities.

They also pledged their support for "an unfettered access of OSCE SMM (Special Monitoring Mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) in order that it can fulfill its mandate, inter alia by putting in place effective and speedy communications between the SMM and the parties on the ground."

The deputy ministers also proposed "stepping up negotiations concerning the exchange of prisoners in order to achieve rapidly concrete results," the press release says.

"The Deputy foreign ministers/political directors of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine noted the decision of Mrs Heidi Tagliavini to leave her office. They paid tribute to her work and expressed the wish that her successor be rapidly nominated by the OSCE CiO in order to ensure a smooth transition," it says.

They also "stressed the importance and the urgency of humanitarian issues. In this respect, they discussed the role that ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) can play with regard to the international mechanism agreed upon in the Minsk Package of Measures of 12 February 2015," according to the press release.

"They also discussed the timely involvement of ODIHR (Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights) in the preparation of elections, as agreed upon in the 'Package of Measures'," the press release says.