Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will discuss the ongoing war in Ukraine when they meet at the upcoming Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) meeting in Malta. The annual gathering of 57 member states from Europe, North America, and Central Asia will focus primarily on the Ukrainian conflict but will also address other significant issues. Among them is the confirmation of senior staff members within the OSCE, which includes filling critical positions at the human rights and security body. Russia has been accused by Western powers of violating international norms, especially human rights, for a long time.
Trump’s Return Overshadows OSCE Discussions
This year’s OSCE session takes place at a time when U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is soon to return to office. His government has indicated possible war-end proposals in which large chunks of Ukraine will be conceded to Russia. Western powers will again vow support for Ukraine, but Lavrov will again denounce the OSCE. Last year, he said that “essentially, it was turned into an appendage of NATO and the European Union.”
Lavrov’s First Visit to the EU Since Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine
The OSCE meeting will be the first time Lavrov visits the European Union since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. This underlines the tense and divisive role Russia has played in the organization in recent years. Despite its key role in East-West dialogue during the Cold War, the OSCE has struggled to reach critical decisions in recent times, particularly since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia has increasingly used its veto power, blocking many key decisions and often crippling the organization’s functioning.
OSCE’s Struggles and Leadership Decisions
While Russia’s veto power has recently blocked several agreements, this year’s challenges have been different. Armenia and Azerbaijan, over their longstanding conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, have been blamed for blocking OSCE budget agreements. Diplomats have announced that a deal was struck to fill four senior positions in the OSCE, among them being the Secretary General post that will go to Feridun Sinirlioglu of Turkey, who once was the country’s foreign minister. The most important decision this year’s meeting will make is the selection of the country to hold the OSCE’s rotating chairmanship, a position Finland will take for the 50th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act, the agreement that laid the foundation for the OSCE.
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