Foreign Minister Lavrov’s opening remarks during his talks with OSCE Chairperson-in-office, Foreign Minister of Poland Zbigniew Rau, Moscow, February 15, 2022

 Esteemed Minister, Mr Chairperson-in-Office,

Colleagues,

It is a pleasure to see you. We spoke with you not so long ago, on the sidelines of various international events. In light of the current Polish Chairmanship of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, we thought we should arrange a special meeting with you to discuss the situation at the OSCE and the priorities formulated and presented by the Polish chair at the meeting of the Permanent Council in January this year.

You took charge of the OSCE at a difficult time. Over the years, too many issues have accumulated that undermine the very foundation of the OSCE and the goals that were set for it by heads of governments, namely for the OSCE to be an Organisation for cooperation, dialogue and compromise.

I think the ideas that you suggested as you assumed your Chairmanship and the ideas that Russia has put forward at the OSCE in recent years make sense. Today we will try to look for points of common interest so that we can help our Polish colleagues ensure a successful OSCE Chairmanship.