No demands posed for release of OSCE monitors captured in east Ukraine - OSCE

Individuals, keeping two groups of Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) monitors in Donbas, propose no demands, spokesperson for the OSCE special monitoring mission in Ukraine Michael Bociurkiw said at a news conference in Kyiv on Friday.

It should not be forgotten that the people keeping the monitors have no demands, Bociurkiw said.

The OSCE has established contacts with two groups of monitors gone missing in eastern Ukraine in late May. The OSCE is in touch with both groups, both groups are safe and their state is normal, he said.

The issue has not been resolved because it is very complicated and unique, Bociurkiw said.

Everyone, who has any information, should convey it to the OSCE, Bociurkiw said.

It has been reported that the first group of monitors went missing in the Donetsk region in May 26. It includes citizens of Switzerland, Estonia, Turkey and Denmark. Contact was lost with the second group with four people in the Luhansk region on May 29.

Not a single armed group took the responsibility for kidnapping the OSCE mission monitors, Bociurkiw said.

At the same time, according to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, the OSCE monitors were captured by illegal armed groups operating in eastern Ukraine.