OSCE states have different positions on Ukraine, Swiss FM says

Swiss Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter has said that European Union ministers have held informal talks aimed at drafting a joint declaration on Ukraine but the discussions have been fruitless.

Speaking at a news conference here, late on Thursday, Burkhalter said the ministers, grouped here for the 21st OSCE Ministerial Council meeting, were at odds over some topics of the proposed communique; prospects of holding some regional nations responsible for the crisis AND questioning constitutional grounds of the referendum held in the Crimea on March 16, 2014.

He did not pin point the regional power viewed as responsible for the crisis, though the Europeans have largely put the blame on Russia for aggravating the crisis in Ukraine.

The Swiss minister confirmed that the member states of the OSCE, the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe, were deeply concerned at regional security due to the continuing crisis.

The OSCE officials are convinced that there is no military solution to the crisis in Ukraine, he said, affirming “existence of collective desire to resolve it peacefully.”