Ukraine casts a deep shadow over the OSCE meeting

Secretary of State Anne Lindy said making the work of OSCE rapporteurs in eastern Ukraine more difficult is unacceptable.

While the number of ceasefire violations is on the rise, tension is constantly rising along the front line. At the same time, the peace process is stagnant. When the outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a conversation with President Vladimir Putin appealed for a new meeting of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France, she received nobility.

Thirty years after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Putin still sees the former Soviet republics as a Russian area of ​​interest. The Kremlin wants “long-term security guarantees” to prevent NATO from expanding eastward. Moscow also wants a legally binding commitment not to allow Ukraine to join NATO.

From the point of view of Ukraine and the West, these are unreasonable demands for an independent state and contradict the security arrangements protected by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Want direct discussions?

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in a meeting on Thursday, called on his US counterpart Anthony Blinken for direct talks between the US and Russia on resolving the Ukraine crisis. It is a proposal that will come before a planned hypothetical meeting between Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin soon.

They met at Biden’s initiative in Geneva in June, and there were few tangible results overall. Relations are cold and the half-hour meeting between Lavrov and Blinkin was the first at this level since last summer.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has warned of an imminent danger of a Russian invasion. Anthony Blinken did the same at the NATO meeting in Riga on Wednesday. The American claimed that there is evidence.

On Friday, Dmytro Kuleba said in an interview with Ekot that Russia’s chair at the negotiating table is empty.

– Ukraine has repeated several times that we are determined to adhere to diplomatic solutions to the conflict. We are sitting at the negotiating table with Germany, France and the United States, waiting for Russia to feel empty-handed and join the negotiations.

pessimistic Lindy

Secretary of State Anne Lind (S) was pessimistic and did not see an end to the conflict anytime soon. The hope that the presence of more than 50 foreign ministers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in the Region of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) would not lead to a weakening of the tense situation was not fulfilled. But the clarity shown might make you think twice before doing something, she told TT.

Her Ukrainian colleague Dmytro Kuleba did not have the impression that Sergey Lavrov left Sweden cold:

– On the contrary. He succumbs to a very hostile rhetoric, with false accusations of Ukraine, against Germany, France and the United States, which are allegedly planning attacks on Russia.

According to Anne Lindy, Russia and Ukraine are too far from believing a rapid turnaround is happening. Regarding the new quartet talks, Dmytro Kuleba said:

– We have the political will to do so. But he says the killing must stop.

Little success after all

Another unresolved issue was the Russian-backed breakaway region of Transnistria.

– This is the struggle where I hope we’ve made some progress. It is almost forgotten in Swedish consciousness, but it also affects many civilians. “There we are adopting a statement and we hope for a meeting between the two parties, the European Union and the United States,” Anne Linde said.

However, it did not issue a resolution linking equality and security, stressing the importance of women’s participation in achieving lasting peace. But Russia has entered into an unholy alliance with the Vatican, according to a frustrated foreign minister.

Read more: Ukraine: Linde does not believe in a solution ‘in the near future’

Read more: Truss: Russia’s invasion a ‘strategic mistake’

Read more: Lavrov: The dangers of a military confrontation are increasing

Read more: Blinken: A time when democracies are being challenged