Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has called for making the Trilateral Contact Group mechanism more efficient.

"We should do all we can so that the Trilateral Contact Group mechanism becomes more efficient and helpful," the Ukrainian presidential press service quoted Poroshenko as saying at a meeting with OSCE special envoy for Ukraine Martin Sajdik.

The president also insisted on arguing the militants out of holding elections in Donbas and called for immediately starting a discussion within the subgroup on political issues regarding the modality of local elections in certain districts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in keeping with Ukrainian law and OSCE standards.

"We should conduct the elections strictly the way it is stipulated in the Minsk agreements, in keeping with Ukrainian law and based on the ODIHR principles, with foreign observers present, who will guarantee compliance with OSCE standards. The elections must be free and fair," Poroshenko said.

The president also called for the unconditional observance of the Minsk agreements regarding the release of captives on the all-for-all principle, including Ukrainian citizens Nadia Savchenko, Oleh Sentsov, Oleksandr Kolchenko and others being held in Russia.

Ukraine is fully complying with its political obligations under the Minsk agreements of February 12, 2015, in particular, as concerns a constitutional reform on the decentralization of power.

Sajdik welcomed the passage of constitutional amendments regarding decentralization by the Verkhovna Rada on August 31. "He also regretted the escalation of violence near the parliament, which led to the loss of life, and supported the Ukrainian president's resolute measures to conduct an efficient investigation and hold those guilty accountable," it said.

The parties also welcomed the implementation of a ceasefire agreement initiated by the president and expressed the hope that it would be durable.

As Poroshenko and Sajdik discussed the activity of the Trilateral Contact Group's subgroup on socioeconomic matters, the Ukrainian president assured the OSCE envoy of Ukraine's willingness to implement the projects agreed upon earlier on restoring the destroyed infrastructure in Donbas, although this can be done only after militants strictly adhere to the ceasefire agreement.

It was reported earlier that the Trilateral Contact Group on settling the situation in Donbas had held a videoconference attended by representatives of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics (DPR and LPR) on Tuesday.

Elections in the Donbas territories controlled by the DPR and LPR were held on November 2, 2014.