MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe could play a greater role in strengthening European security, Ivan Soltanovsky, head of the Russian Foreign Ministry's European Cooperation Department, said.
"The events in Ukraine demonstrated that this organization which, over time, unfortunately, used to be in the shade, has essentially become the only platform for political dialogue,… and in the long run [could help to] resolve the systemic crisis of European security," Ivan Soltanovsky added.
The Ukrainian crisis escalated in April 2014, when Kiev launched a military operation against independence supporters from the southeastern Ukrainian Donbas region who were unhappy with what they claimed was a government imposed by a coup.
OSCE has a monitoring mission in the conflict-torn Ukraine and has been overseeing the ceasefire agreements reached by the sides to the conflict.
