MOSCOW, June 29 /ITAR-TASS/. The Russian Foreign Ministry has welcomed the release of observers from the OSCE special monitoring mission in Ukraine which also included a Russian national (Mr. Sidorov).

“The release followed a personal call by Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill who appointed Metropolitan Merkuriy of Rostov and Novocherkassk his contact person on this matter,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in its statement on Facebook.

A direct address by the leaders of the mission of the Organization for Security of Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to the representatives of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics who conducted direct talks with the persons who had captured the OSCE monitors was a second vital factor that contributed to the observers release without any preconditions.

“The Russian side kept calling for the immediate release of all monitors. We believe that it is unacceptable to prevent OSCE observers from fulfilling their monitoring mission and create threat to their personal security. We hope that their release will create necessary conditions for the OSCE mission to continue monitoring the situation in Ukraine and present objective and exhaustive reports; as well as to contribute to de-escalation of tensions on the basis of the “road map” proposed by the Swiss OSCE chairperson-in-office and the Geneva statement of April 17,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.