How the OSCE is trying to return to the role of the intermediary in the conflict in Ukraine
The new OSCE Secretary General Feridun Sinirlioglu visited Moscow for negotiations with the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. The purpose of the visit is to restart the work of an organization whose activity was actually paralyzed because of the disagreement between Russia and the West, and to return it to at least the remnants of its former influence. In Moscow, the efforts of the new Secretary General were sympathetic, although with a fair amount of skepticism.
The arrival of the new Secretary General of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Feridun Sinirlioglu in Moscow coincided with two events at once: the negotiations of Ukraine and the USA in Jidd and the most ambitious raid Ukrainian UAVs for Russia for all the time of hostilities. This influenced the program of the tall guest in Moscow – instead of immediately heading for the house of the Foreign Ministry, where negotiations were planned, the Secretary General was first brought to the city of a prominent so that it could see the consequences of the arrival of the Ukrainian drone around the residential house with his own eyes.
Later, journalists asked the Secretary General, why, from his point of view, Kyiv decided to attack Moscow precisely on the day of his arrival and whether he was ready to condemn the attack, which took the lives of at least three people. To this, Secretary General diplomatically replied that « he hopes no longer to see such incidents either in Moscow or in Kyiv. »
Former Foreign Minister of Turkey Feridun Sinirlioglu was unanimously chosen by the new OSCE Secretary Generals on the Council of Foreign Ministers in Malta in December 2024. Then the heads of key institutions of the organization, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, also changed. The OSCE was not in the best form to her anniversary: it remained the last European organization, which presents both the countries of the West and Russia, and its work in recent years is actually paralyzed. The participating countries for a long time could not agree on who would become the next chairman of the OSCE, with great difficulty agreed on candidates for the positions of the heads of key institutions and dispersed by almost all the points of the organization’s agenda, including its budget.
The Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was unable to take part in the meeting of the OSCE Foreign Ministers in Poland in December 2022 due to the refusal of the Polish side to accept his aircraft, and the delegation of Russia at the parliamentary assembly collided with calls to boycott its participation. For its part, Russia suspended the payment of contributions to the budget of the parliamentary Assembly, and later its participation in it.
Against the backdrop of a possible conclusion of a peace agreement between Moscow and Kiev and the discussion of the idea of introducing a peacekeeping contingent of the OSCE to Ukraine, OSCE wants to revive its former role.
The choice of a representative of Turkey to the post of Secretary General is designed to contribute to this: Ankara declares an equivalent position in the Ukrainian conflict. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly proposed his mediation between the parties to the conflict, and the only, albeit unsuccessful negotiations between them were held in Istanbul.
At a joint press conference with Sergey Lavrov, the OSCE Secretary General announced his commitment to working with all 57 countries participating in the organization. “Russia is an important OSCE partner. I want to continue working with her for the sake of peace and security in Europe. That is why I am here, ”Mr. Sinirlioglu emphasized.“ I believe that now there is an opportunity to complete the continued war in Ukraine, and we must use it. ” He assured that the OSCE will be ready to support settlement and that the organization can become a dialogue platform for those states that need to find a common language. “This is your organization, and as the Secretary General I am ready to realize what you will agree on,” Mr. Sinirlioglu said.
Sergei Lavrov, in turn, said that in Moscow they appreciated the visit of the new Secretary General and examined it as a symbolic step to return the organization to its origins. He promised to support the efforts of Mr. Sinirlioglu. At the same time, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry recalled the long history of disagreements within the OSCE, saying that the West tried to turn it « into a Ukrainianized tool for education » in Russia. Such an inheritance, according to Mr. Lavrov, cannot be envied in any way.
The idea to involve the OSCE in the Ukrainian settlement, the Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation reacted without enthusiasm. He recalled the numerous claims of Russia to a special monitoring mission, which for several years acted on the demarcation line in the Donbass, repeatedly violating the principle of neutrality, and made it clear that so far he did not see the OSCE in the peaceful process. “We must see. In general, the settlement process has not yet begun, ”said Mr. Lavrov. The minister also rejected the idea of peacekeepers, calling it an attempt to save the leadership of Ukraine.
