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Russian diplomat chides Swedish foreign minister’s ‘baffling’ comment on Moscow visit

According to Maria Zakharova, these comments do not reflect the actual content of the meeting, which was mostly focused on the OSCE’s agenda and efforts to resolve conflicts in the OSCE region

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova Russian Foreign Ministry/TASS

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova

© Russian Foreign Ministry/TASS

MOSCOW, November 24. /TASS/. The statements that Swedish Foreign Minister and Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Chairperson-in-Office Ann Linde made after visiting Moscow are puzzling and indicate biased approaches, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a comment on Wednesday.

"It is baffling that Ms. Ann Linde had first of all announced her visit to Moscow as that of the incumbent OSCE chairperson-in-office seeking to discuss pressing issues related to the organization’s activities with a focus on preparations for an OSCE Ministerial Council meeting set to take place in Stockholm on December 2-3, but afterwards, completely different topics were highlighted, including the migration crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border and the activities of foreign agents in Russia," Zakharova pointed out.

According to her, this does not reflect the actual content of the meeting, which was mostly focused on the OSCE’s agenda and efforts to resolve conflicts in the OSCE region. "The Swedish Foreign Ministry is clearly bringing forward biased approaches while neglecting the need to faithfully implement the role of ‘an honest broker’ in the OSCE’s affairs. It will inevitably have a negative impact on the outcome of Sweden’s chairmanship in the organization," Zakharova emphasized.

Lavrov and Linde held talks in Moscow on November 19.

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