Vice Speaker of the State Duma and head of the Russian delegation Pyotr Tolstoy listed the factors under which Russia could withdraw from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). He spoke on this topic in an interview with an Izvestia correspondent on February 24.
As Tolstoy noted, Russia adheres to a single principle of work in international organizations – equal rights with all delegations. According to him, it was the same in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), and it will be the same in the OSCE.
“If there are any changes to the OSCE regulations that will infringe on the interests of our delegation, if there is any attempt to isolate Russia, then we will recommend making such a decision,” the politician explained.
On January 20, Maxim Buyakevich, Deputy Representative of the Russian Federation to the OSCE, noted that contacts between Western states and Russia must be maintained in order to avoid “existential risks” associated with the crisis in Ukraine. According to him, any steps aimed at protecting diplomatic efforts are in the interests of the international community.
On January 19, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, following the results of negotiations in Minsk, said that the OSCE was rapidly and clearly degrading, moving further and further away from its lofty principles, which were laid down in the Helsinki Final Act.
On January 9, a member of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, Dmitry Belik, told Izvestiya that the OSCE understands the importance of maintaining dialogue with Moscow and the negative consequences of the country’s exclusion from the organization.
This is how he reacted to the statement by OSCE Secretary General Helga Schmid that Russia should not be excluded from the organization. According to her, the OSCE is the only organization where everyone who matters for the European security architecture is represented.
Schmid, in turn, said this after Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said that the OSCE would perish if Russia remained in its composition.
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