'Good progress' in talks to free OSCE mission in Ukraine

The leader of rebels holding seven OSCE observers in eastern Ukraine today reported "good progress" in talks to secure their release, adding a "positive outcome" was expected soon.
The self-styled mayor of the flashpoint city of Slavyansk, Vyacheslav Ponomaryov, told reporters: "There has been good progress and a good productive dialogue."
Ponomaryov's comments offered hope that the monitors -- four from Germany, one Dane, one Pole and one Czech -- might soon be released after five days in captivity.
Earlier today, the head of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Lamberto Zannier, held emergency talks in Kiev with the US ambassador to Ukraine and the foreign minister.

The minister, Andriy Deshchytsia, demanded the "immediate release" of the men, whose detention sparked international outrage and raised the stakes in the worst East-West crisis since the Cold War.
The US ambassador, Geoffrey Pyatt, stressed that the men should be released "without conditions".
Rebels holding the group have previously described them as "prisoners of war" and said they will only be freed in exchange for the release of militants in custody. More recently they have taken to calling them "guests".