The intergovernmental OSCE organization is considering whether to send a monitoring mission to the upcoming German election after speaking with each of the parties, Spiegel reports.
Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany agreed on new peace talks this week on Christmas Eve and Boxing Day, Ukrainian President Petro Poroschenko announced on Monday evening.
Foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Wednesday warned there are signs that pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine are readying for major military clashes with troops of the Western-leaning government.
German hostages captured in Ukraine returned home over the weekend, but their release has sparked a row within the country’s coalition government about what they were doing in the crisis-hit country.
UPDATE: Hopes have been dashed that eight observers, including four Germans, from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) who were captured by pro-Russian militia in Ukraine on Friday will shortly be freed.
UPDATE: Germany has "strongly condemned" the capturing of international observers by pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine on Sunday, including four Germans.
Pro-Russian rebels holding a group of international OSCE observers, including four Germans, in eastern Ukraine on Saturday accused them of being "NATO spies" and vowed to continue detaining them.
Germany has condemned Belarus's decision to order the closure of the OSCE's office in Minsk, saying the move was another step backwards for democratic rights in the ex-Soviet republic.
The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe said this week it will send observers to monitor the German general election next month, the first time such a mission has been sent to Germany.
