Special Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG), Ambassador Heidi Grau, after a regular TCG meeting, called on the sides to the conflict in Donbas to urgently take steps on mine action.

"With the onset of the warm season and the approaching Easter holidays, I call on the sides to take urgent action as regards demining. According to the SMM, the majority of civilian casualties this year have been caused by mines and unexploded ordnance," Grau said on the OSCE SMM website on Thursday.

According to the ambassador, "the OSCE special monitoring mission to Ukraine continues to record a high level of ceasefire violations. The requirement for compliance with the ceasefire was in the focus of the discussions of the Security Working Group and the TCG."

"Participants in the meeting reiterated their commitment to it. However – regrettably – no agreement was reached upon a TCG statement on responding to ceasefire violations and their elimination in the future," Grau said.

In addition, "the participants in the Political Working Group meeting, preventing progress on developing an action plan in full compliance with the Minsk agreements as tasked by the TCG."

Grau also said "the growing number of restrictions and impediments to the freedom of movement of the OSCE SMM is negatively affecting the implementation of the Mission's mandate." "The SMM's UAVs are targeted daily by small arms fire as well as by jamming," she said.