KYIV. June 26 (Interfax) - Germany's Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel has suggested that roadblocks and checkpoints on the border should be monitored throughout the Ukrainian truce by observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), including Russian representatives.
"The federal chancellor of Germany has suggested backing following joint steps: to ensure a monitoring system with elements of control (regarding the roadblocks and checkpoints on the Ukrainian-Russian border) involving OSCE observers, including Russian representatives, for the duration of the ceasefire," the press office of the Ukrainian head of state said on Wednesday after a telephone conversation between Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, the German chancellor, Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Francois Hollande.
Merkel has also suggested exchanging lists of hostages and urged the Russian authorities to publicly appeal to captors to release those people, the press office said.
She also suggested that the tripartite contact group, consisting of Ukraine's second president Leonid Kuchma, Personal Representative for the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Heidi Tagliavini and Russian Ambassador to Ukraine Mikhail Zurabov, should continue talks on June 26, the press office said.
The parties have agreed to continue their conversation in this format on June 26, according to the press office of the Ukrainian head of state.