President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko has had a phone conversation in the Normandy format. During the call, he emphasized the escalation of the situation in Donbas over the last weeks and underlined that non-implementation of the Minsk agreements by Russia and Russia-backed militants is unacceptable.

The Head of State stressed that the OSCE must obtain full access to the entire occupied territory, including the border. He reiterated that it is necessary to withdraw all occupation troops from the territory of Ukraine.

The sides agreed on the necessity of establishing a comprehensive ceasefire. They also called to intensify work within the Trilateral Contact Group in early 2016 on the modalities of holding local elections in certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) should be involved in these activities.

In this regard, the President emphasized that it is necessary to cancel fake “elections” which pro-Russian militants have scheduled. Once again, he underlined that the elections in Donbas should be held with the participation of the Ukrainian parties, media, the Central Election Commission, international observers and be conducted in accordance with the ODIHR/OSCE standards.

To maintain order and ensure security during the electoral process, the President of Ukraine proposed to deploy an EU special peacekeeping mission in the occupied areas of Donbas in the framework of the EU’s Common Security and Defense Policy.

President Poroshenko highlighted the necessity of providing immediate access to the occupied territories for all international humanitarian missions, including the International Committee of the Red Cross and “Médecins Sans Frontières”.

The sides agreed that the next meeting of Foreign Ministers of the Normandy Group should take place in late January 2016.

President Petro Poroshenko urged to release all Ukrainian hostages, including those illegally detained in Russia, in particular Nadiya Savchenko and Oleh Sentsov.

The Head of State also drew attention to the destructive trade and economic policy of Russia towards Ukraine.