Moscow Calls On OSCE to Play Bigger Role in Strengthening European Security

Ukraine crisis proved that Europe has systematic security problems and the OSCE became the “only platform for political dialogue”, a senior Russian Foreign Ministry official said Thursday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe could play a greater role in strengthening European security, Ivan Soltanovsky, head of the Russian Foreign Ministry's European Cooperation Department, said.

"The events in Ukraine demonstrated that this organization which, over time, unfortunately, used to be in the shade, has essentially become the only platform for political dialogue,… and in the long run [could help to] resolve the systemic crisis of European security," Ivan Soltanovsky added.

Moscow is convinced that Europe has been suffering security crises despite a widely-held opinion that the situation in Europe deteriorated primarily due to the Ukraine crisis, Soltanovsky stated, speaking in Russia's upper house.

The Ukrainian crisis escalated in April 2014, when Kiev launched a military operation against independence supporters from the southeastern Ukrainian Donbas region who were unhappy with what they claimed was a government imposed by a coup.

OSCE has a monitoring mission in the conflict-torn Ukraine and has been overseeing the ceasefire agreements reached by the sides to the conflict.