ASHGABAT, May 16. /TASS/. The shift of the focus of discussion to the Ukrainian issue prevents the OSCE from fulfilling the tasks that lie in its sphere of responsibility, Russia’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the OSCE, Alexander Volgaryov, told TASS on Tuesday.

"There are three dimensions in which the OSCE works: non-military aspects of security, the economic and environmental dimension and the so-called third basket - humanitarian cooperation. For some reason everything is now 'locked up' on one topic - and not on our initiative. We had serious complaints in this respect against the previous chair-in-office, Poland, which used and ‘pushed through’ a non-consensual agenda: a discussion of only so-called Russian aggression against Ukraine and nothing else. This is what we call 'Ukrainization' of the agenda. At the same time, it interferes with the implementation of mandated tasks," he said on the sidelines of the international forum entitled The Role of Neutral States in Strengthening Security, Stability and Dialogue within the OSCE.

According to Volgaryov, the OSCE has a serious potential amid contemporary challenges such as countering terrorism, drug trafficking and cybercrime.

"Now, as the focus of the discussion has shifted to tasks that are not quite proper for the organization, its mandate is ‘stalled.’ We are doing our best in our daily work in Vienna to put the organization back on track and hope that our work will bear fruit sooner or later," he added.

The international forum The Role of Neutral States in Promoting Security, Stability and Dialogue within the OSCE took place in Ashgabat on Tuesday. The event is held jointly with the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, with members of parliament from Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and other countries, as well as representatives of international organizations taking part.