SKOPJE, November 30. /TASS/. Russia has to state with regret that the OSCE is in deplorable shape and its prospects as an organization are unclear, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a meeting of the OSCE foreign ministers.

"In a little more than 12 months’ time the Helsinki Final Act will turn 50. We have to note with regret that the OSCE is approaching this anniversary in a deplorable shape and its prospects remain unclear," Lavrov said.

He recalled that Russia had exerted the maximum efforts to form a common security space in Europe based on cooperation.

"Unfortunately, the Western political elites, which have arrogated to themselves the right to decide the fate of humanity, have made a short-sighted choice not in favor of the OSCE, but in favor of NATO. In favor of the philosophy of containment, zero-sum geopolitical games and the ‘master - slave’ logic. One of the key components of this policy was NATO's reckless expansion to the East, which began after the dissolution of the Warsaw Treaty Organization," the Russian foreign minister explained.

Lavrov added that NATO states had ruined the political and military dimension of the OSCE with their own hands.