Zakharova: OSCE could not prove itself as a guarantor

Traditionally, The Moscow Post correspondent asked his question.

Our first question was, this year marks the 50th anniversary of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Eighty years since the UN Charter came into force after the Soviet Union surrendered its instrument of ratification in October 1945. How can you assess the role of these organizations in ensuring the security interests of Russia in the post-war period?

Maria Vladimirovna noted that the Russian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly said that the name of this organization contains two key words - "security" and "cooperation." However, neither one nor the other is now on the territory of the European continent.

The reason is not that they were "stolen by aliens," but that those who were supposed to guarantee them from the western part of the continent did not do their job. Instead, they engaged in actions directed against: they shook and destroyed security, blocked and destroyed cooperation.

"Unfortunately, the structure mentioned by you - the OSCE, could not prove itself as a guarantor. She was unable to prevent the development of a negative scenario, which is the Ukrainian crisis, "Zakharova added.

Moreover, this crisis has developed for a long time, has been growing for years. The Russian delegation and our representatives at the OSCE site in Vienna, in various institutions of this organization, have repeatedly warned of possible consequences and tried to use the OSCE mechanisms. But the institutions of the organization did not work. Moreover, we can say that the OSCE disqualified itself.

Maria Zakharova recalled what the OSCE mission had turned into and what the observers were doing. They did anything but actually monitor. Unfortunately, reliable data was not published.

"Alas, there is evidence that observers worked in the interests of the special services of Western countries and the Kyiv regime," she stressed.

Speaking about cooperation, she noted that the overwhelming majority of joint projects - from energy to humanitarian - are blocked by Western countries. They paralyzed the work of the OSCE. Will this organization be in demand after its 50th anniversary? A big question, stated the official representative of the Foreign Ministry.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also spoke about this earlier at an OSCE meeting in Valletta, where he gave exhaustive assessments of the situation.

The second question, which The Moscow Post correspondent was interested in, was that Kyrgyz citizen Askar Kubanychbek, who participated in the special operation, received Russian citizenship and asylum from criminal prosecution for mercenarism in his homeland. However, the Kyrgyz authorities continue to make claims against him, restricting his movement. Who and how can find a way out of this situation, given that Kyrgyzstan is a member of the CSTO and the EAEU?

"It is better to address such a question to those who are directly involved in such legal conflicts. I will clarify with our lawyers, but I believe that this issue does not belong to the competence of the foreign ministry, "Maria Vladimirovna answered briefly.

The third question, it sounded like this, Russian entrepreneurs working in Sri Lanka are concerned that the republic's authorities have tightened the visa regime and are conducting checks with the participation of security officials. These actions are covered in the press. How can you comment on this?

"We noticed that from the end of 2024, the law enforcement and tax authorities of Sri Lanka began to conduct inspections against foreigners in the country. This is due to compliance with local migration and tax laws, "she added.

Entrepreneurs from at least three countries came to the attention of the authorities. Talk that these actions are directed exclusively against Russian citizens is not confirmed. According to our embassy in Colombo, all checks are carried out within the legal framework. To date, the Russian diplomatic mission has not received official appeals about the violation of the rights of our entrepreneurs.

If you have such appeals or letters from Russian citizens, please give them to us. We will send them to our embassy.

"We proceed from the fact that these checks are an internal affair of Sri Lanka and do not affect traditionally friendly Russian-Sri Lankan relations," said Maria Vladimirovna.