German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has said the OSCE observers captured in Donetsk and Luhansk regions will hopefully be freed soon.

One should assess whether opportunities exist for Russian observers for broader and more active involvement in the OSCE's monitoring mission, and how possible broader cooperation and renewed and maintained control over the border will be, he told reporters after the talks with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. However, those who expect an enlarged OSCE monitoring mission's to be effective and successful, must remember that this will only be possible if the OSCE observers now in captivity are released, Steinmeier said.

The first group of OSCE observers went missing in the Donetsk region on May 26. It is comprised of citizens of Switzerland, Estonia, Turkey and Denmark. Contact with the second four-member group was lost in the Luhansk region on May 29.

Press secretary of the OSCE's special monitoring mission in Ukraine Michael Bociurkiw said that none of the militia groups has claimed responsibility for the OSCE observers' abduction.

It emerged on June 19 that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe established contact with both groups, but they remain in captivity. No demands have been made by the captors.