Angela Merkel and Vladimir Putin also discussed the visit to Moscow of the Swiss OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Didier Burkhalter, which is scheduled for Wednesday.

At his meeting in Moscow, one point on the agenda will be the establishment of Round Tables under the aegis of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). The Round Tables are to facilitate a national dialogue in the run-up to the presidential elections in Ukraine.

Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Ursula von der Leyen express thanks for diplomatic efforts

On Saturday Federal Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Federal Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen declared themselves "happy" and "relieved" at the release of the OSCE military observers. Both ministers thanked everyone who had helped bring about the release. A special thanks went to the OSCE team of negotiators on the ground, the Federal Foreign Office crisis unit and the Russian special envoy Vladimir Lukin.