Elections in the temporarily occupied districts of Luhansk and Donetsk regions must be held in accordance with the standards of the OSCE and ODIHR which should be discussed by the Trilateral Contact Group, German Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel has said.

During a joint press conference with Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk in Berlin, Merkel said that elections can only take place in the region after the Trilateral Contact Group settles this issue and new legislation is established.

Yatseniuk stressed that municipal elections in certain districts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions must take place, but only in adherence to Ukrainian legislation as envisaged by the Minsk agreements and under OSCE and ODIHR standards.

He added that elections will only be fair and transparent "when Russian soldiers don’t stay with guns outside polling station."

"This means that Russian troops must get out [of Ukraine]," Yatseniuk said.

He also said that the 1.5 million internally displaced persons who "ran away from the war" must be able to fully participate in local elections in Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

Yatseniuk stressed that Donetsk and Luhansk regions must only be represented by elected officials, not "the individuals who declared themselves as leaders."