Russian officials have said the organization has been used by the West as a tool for “hybrid war and coercion”
Senior officials from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) arrived in Moscow on Thursday for what they have described as dialogue on the Ukraine conflict.
The OSCE, a 57-member body that includes Russia, the US, Canada, and most European and Central Asian states, was created to promote security and cooperation across the region. Moscow has said the organization has been used by its NATO and EU members to advance Western interests at the expense of pan-European goals.
In a post on X, OSCE Chairman-in-Office Ignazio Cassis said his arrival in Moscow together with OSCE Secretary General Feridun Sinirlioglu follows talks in Ukraine, adding that “dialogue requires engagement with all sides.”
The OSCE officials are scheduled to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who told RT in an exclusive interview aired on Thursday that Moscow has maintained contacts with some European leaders without public disclosure, but that those discussions have not produced any new proposals to resolve the Ukraine conflict.
#OSCE26CH | After our visit to Ukraine, I arrived in Moscow today together with @OSCESecGen Sinirlioğlu. Dialogue requires engagement with all sides. This is how the #OSCE reaffirms its role as a platform for dialogue and its readiness to support efforts towards a just and… pic.twitter.com/0DLGTMwGTu
“They call us and ask that these conversations not be made public. Some even show up here and communicate through back channels,” Lavrov said, calling it “pathetic diplomacy.”
In December, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandr Grushko said that Western nations are turning the OSCE into an instrument of “hybrid war and coercion.”
The EU drastically reduced contacts with Russia after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022 in an effort to “isolate” the country, a move that led to the bloc being virtually sidelined from the peace talks since last February, when US President Donald Trump launched efforts to mediate between Moscow and Kiev.
In recent months, however, several European leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and the European Commission chief spokesperson Paula Pinho have signaled a willingness to resume contact.
“All they’re doing now is trying to sabotage, to subvert the negotiations that finally began taking shape between Russia and the US, and now are joined by Ukrainian representatives,” Lavrov said.
The second round of trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi took place this week. US special envoy Steve Witkoff called the talks “productive.”
