MOSCOW, July 31 (RIA Novosti) - The Trilateral Contact Group on the Ukrainian crisis on Thursday called for immediate release of hostages as a first step to secure a mutually agreed and sustainable ceasefire in violence-hit eastern Ukraine.
The Group, which comprises envoys from Kiev, Russia and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, met on Thursday in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, with representatives of pro-independence militia from eastern regions of Ukraine.
"The participants discussed the situation of hostages and other persons detained in the context of the conflict. As a first step, they committed to the immediate release of a seizable number of persons deprived of freedom," the Group said in a statement posted on the OSCE website.
The document said other steps toward the truce in the Ukrainian standoff include the establishment of an OSCE supported ceasefire monitoring and verification mechanism as well as "effective control and verification on the border between Ukraine and the Russian Federation."
According to the statement, the Contact Group and representatives of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics agreed to hold another meeting next week.
The sides discussed the situation around the site of the MH17 crash. “They took good note of the fact that a group of international observers and investigators were given access to the crash site today,” the statement said.
A team of international investigators reached the crash zone on Thursday for the first time in a week as previous attempts have been hampered by continuing military action in the area. When approaching the crash area, the convoy came under a mortar fire.
“They committed to securing further safe access to international investigators to the crash site until the investigation activities on the spot are completed. The Contact Group underlined the urgent need for full compliance with this commitment,” the OSCE said.
On Tuesday, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko agreed to host talks on the Ukraine crisis in Minsk following a request from his Ukrainian counterpart, Petro Poroshenko.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow welcomes Belarus' move but added that one meeting would not be enough to resolve the problems.
