OSCE Secretary General Meets Russia’s Foreign Minister, Offers Support for Ukraine Settlement

OSCE Secretary General Feridun H. Sinirlioğlu met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow on Tuesday, expressing the organization’s readiness to support a resolution to the ongoing war in Ukraine.

This marks Sinirlioğlu’s first visit to Moscow since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022; the last visit by an OSCE Secretary General occurred in June 2021 by Helga Schmid, Sinirlioğlu’s predecessor.

Prior to his Moscow visit, Secretary General Sinirlioğlu traveled to Kyiv in February, where he held discussions with Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha.

“In my capacity as Secretary General of the OSCE, I am committed to working with all 57 participating States,” Sinirlioğlu stated during his opening remarks alongside Lavrov. “The Russian Federation is a very important participating State and an OSCE co-founder. I am ready to work with you toward the goals of our organization: peace and security in Europe. This is why I am here,” he added.

Lavrov welcomed Sinirlioğlu’s decision to visit Moscow, calling it “a symbolic step in the right direction.” However, he also noted that the OSCE is currently “mired in a profound crisis precipitated by NATO and EU member states.” Lavrov expressed confidence that Sinirlioğlu would make “every effort to steer the OSCE back to its roots.”

Following their discussions, Sinirlioğlu described the talks as “frank and productive,” emphasizing the need to seize the current opportunity to end the war in Ukraine. “The OSCE is ready to support any settlement, should the parties so wish,” he told a news conference in Moscow.

Experts suggest that one potential role for the OSCE could involve monitoring and verifying a ceasefire, provided the involved parties reach an agreement. A widely-cited study by the Geneva Center for Security Policy recommends various forms of international monitoring and verification missions, which could include military, police, and civilian components. The OSCE could effectively provide the civilian pillar, according to these experts.

The report underlines that the core task of such a mission would be “to monitor the ceasefire and to verify the withdrawal of troops and heavy weapons.” The experts stress that “the assumption is that there is a ceasefire to keep.” They do not recommend a “peace enforcement mandate” which they consider “unlikely and dangerous.”

Before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the OSCE operated a Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) consisting of 689 unarmed international civilian monitors and 478 local Ukrainian staff, primarily in eastern Ukraine to observe the fragile ceasefire. However, the organization had to evacuate its international monitors due to security concerns when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Sinirlioğlu’s meeting with Lavrov coincided with negotiations between Ukraine and the United States in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, regarding potential peace terms with Russia. Initially, Ukraine proposed a 30-day ceasefire in the air and at sea, during which further discussions for a lasting settlement could take place. In contrast, the U.S. suggested a full ceasefire along the entire frontline, which Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy indicated Ukraine was “ready to accept.”

In recent weeks, Zelenskyy has also reiterated that Ukraine requires robust security guarantees, not only from Europe but also from the U.S., to deter any future Russian attacks.

In a press release issued on Wednesday, the OSCE noted that Secretary General Sinirlioğlu also discussed with Lavrov the situation of three OSCE officials — Vadym Golda, Maksym Petrov, and Dmytro Shabanov — who have been detained in Donetsk and Luhansk for nearly three years. These three mission members of the former OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine remained in the region during the chaotic evacuation of the SMM following Russia’s invasion in February 2022.

Russian proxies have outlawed the SMM in both Donetsk and Luhansk in April 2022, initially detaining six Ukrainian OSCE SMM staff members, three of whom remain in custody today. In September 2022, Russian proxies sentenced Dmitry Shabanov and Maksym Petrov to 13 years in prison for alleged treason — charges that the OSCE vehemently denies.

Sinirlioğlu’s visit to Moscow occurred against the backdrop of reports that Ukrainian forces launched a significant drone attack on Moscow and other Russian cities, resulting in three fatalities. Meanwhile, Russia continues to carry out daily missile and drone strikes on Ukraine, killing civilians and causing extensive damage to infrastructure.