KIEV, April 29 - The self-declared mayor of a separatist-held town in eastern Ukraine said on Tuesday he would discuss the release of detained military observers with the West only if the European Union dropped sanctions against rebel leaders, Reuters reported.

The Ukrainian government said it had a plan to secure the release of the six observers, seized last week by separatists who said they had found a spy with them, and that it hoped they would soon be free but gave no details.