... truly move forward. Several Russian participants, however, emphasized the need to more directly link the settlement of Ukraine to a way forward on European security more broadly, whether through the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) format or something else. Agreement that the NATO-Russia founding act remains in place and should continue to do so (although NATO members might argue that Russia’s actions in Ukraine violate it) is one possible starting point. So is having both officials and experts discuss how escalation dynamics ...
... conflict intervention. He touched upon the operations of the United Nations and different regional organizations, including OSCE, EU, and NATO, both in the Post-Soviet Space and around the world.
Having considered the changing trends in intervention ... ... become a norm to which both the international bodies and international law slowly adapt. He claimed that despite a crisis in Russia-West relations, Russia needs to cooperate with the West and other regional organizations to resolve particular conflict ...
... "decentralized" Ukraine? How much autonomy should eastern Ukraine possess? Or will the Donbas region separate from the rest of Ukraine?
Is a new format for the Minsk talks needed? Should the U.S., and possibly Turkey, join the Minsk talks along with Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany?
Would a peacekeeping mission under OSCE auspices prove acceptable if Kiev, Moscow and the eastern Ukrainian autonomists could agree? What would be the conditions needed for both sides to accept peacekeepers, if a settlement can be reached?
Southern Caucasus
A Roadmap for U.S.-Russia Relations....
... most attractive targets for extremists of every shade and hue. Russia’s support has played a significant role in ISAF operations in Afghanistan. The Russian Armed Forces are on the forward edge of the fight against ISIS. Together with its partners Russia uses OSCE and SCO mechanisms to restrain extremists in Central Asia. Russia is one of the OSCE’s weightiest partners in counterterrorism.
Nevertheless, terrorism and extremism keep gaining momentum. A major military bloc whose aggregate defense spending ...
... negotiations between NATO and Russia for the gradual reduction of strategic nuclear weapon systems, as well as the control and limitation of conventional weapon systems; o Setting up a demilitarized corridor between the eastward-expanded NATO and Russia; o Revaluating the OSCE; starting a new ‘Helsinki Process’ to create a new policy of détente and a renewed ‘Paris Charter’; o Stopping any further territorial NATO expansion; opening negotiations between NATO and Russia to build a new transatlantic security ...
...
http://www.ng.ru/cis/2015-12-10/1_brussels.html
(in Russian).
21
.
http://ru.euronews.com/newswires/3154945-newswire/
(in Russian).
22
.
http://tass.ru/mezhdunarodnaya-panorama/2685990
(in Russian).
23
.
https://news.mail.ru/politics/23906370/
(in Russian).
24
. OSCE Mission to Moldova. URL:
http://www.osce.org/ru/moldova
(in Russian).
25
. OSCE Council of Ministers offers Transnistria special status within Moldova. URL:
http://vestipmr.info/articles/2015/12/06/sovmin-obse-predlozhil-pridnestrovyu-osobyy-status-v-sostave
...
... outside powers. We suggest nevertheless that experience from the Helsinki process in Europe and the modalities of work of the OSCE could be useful for regional actors who want to pursue this objective, and we stand ready to support this process.
Signed
... ... Daniel Rotfeld
, former Foreign Minister, (Poland) (Task Force Co-Chair);
Igor S. Ivanov
, former Foreign Minister, President, Russian International Affairs Council, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Russia) (Task Force Co-Chair);
...
... far from unambiguous. There are many politicians in this country who believe that the OSCE contributed to the collapse of the USSR by seriously undermining its immunity from hostile ideology and the ability to defend itself. It was also realized in Russia that the OSCE was structurally too weak to provide keen and tough competition to NATO and the EU.
But the rose-colored glasses, through which the Russian political elite preferred to look at the world at that time, were too thick. The belief that “we will ...
... system formed after the end of the Cold War had totally and probably irrevocably failed. That system was based on the de-facto domination of the West, its political organizations, and views. This domination, which is unacceptable to the majority of the Russian elites, has not brought peace and stability to the subcontinent. I am sure that the old system cannot be restored, even if the OSCE steps up its activity. This conclusion is based on my own twelve-month experience on the OSCE Panel of Eminent Persons, which was expected to offer proposals for a European security system reform. Despite sustained efforts, almost no progress has ...
... differences in opinion are exactly the parts of the narrative that should remain at the centre of future EU-Russia discussions, at least at the expert level.
The “Western” system;
In her article Kadri Liik refers to the lack of interest Russia expressed in joining the “Western OSCE-based system” (or the “OSCE-based order”) that was allegedly offered to it by the West. This claim about Russia’s alleged lack of interest would likely raise many an eyebrow in Moscow. Firstly, the OSCE has never been a “Western” ...
