OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Slovakia Miroslav Lajčák has suggested that the Ukrainian party reconsider its decision that the presidential elections in Ukraine will be closed for Russian observers.

Speaking on the phone to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin, he "expressed regret" that the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada on February 7 passed a law that bans accreditation of Russian nationals as observers from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).

Lajčák called on the leaders of Ukraine "to seek all possible ways" to ensure accreditation of all the observers coming from the ODIHR.

A statement on the conversation between Lajčák and Klimkin was published by the press service of the Slovak Foreign Ministry.