Today at 12:03
OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Poland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Zbigniew Rau invited Russia to launch a new security dialogue in Europe. He stated this at a press conference in Moscow, Yevropeiska Pravda reports with the reference to the press conference of the event.
“The situation near Ukraine is very tense and threatens to escalate. The Polish chairmanship in the OSCE is taking all steps to prevent and reduce tensions. We have proposed a new dialogue on European security. I presented the logic of this project to Mr. Lavrov,” Rau stated.
The minister has added that he expects Russia to “get involved in this project and make a significant contribution.”
“Dialogue is the best way to solve difficult problems. I hope that Russia shares this view. The only way out of this crisis is diplomacy,” the minister said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called the proposal to be “interesting”, but said that trust between the OSCE countries is now at a record low.
“But in the absence of results on the NATO and American tracks, the conversation in Vienna will be fruitless in advance, everyone understands that,” he said.
Minister Rau held talks on strengthening the cooperation between the OSCE and the Russian Federation, including efforts directed at stabilizing the security situation and easing tensions in the OSCE region. The Chairman was accompanied by Ambassador Mikko Kinnunen, the Special Representative in Ukraine, and in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG).
February 10-11, Zbigniew Rau paid a visit to Kyiv and Donbas. He assured that 700 OSCE SMM observers were monitoring the situation in Donbas.
