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OSCE Chief To Meet With Lavrov In Moscow, Discuss Ukraine Conflict


Secretary-General of the OSCE Lamberto Zannier
Secretary-General of the OSCE Lamberto Zannier

The head of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) is to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on April 25 in Moscow.

OSCE Secretary-General Lamberto Zannier's April 24-27 visit comes after an American paramedic working as an OSCE monitor in the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine was killed when an OSCE vehicle hit a land mine in separatist-controlled territory on April 23.

Zannier has repeatedly voiced concern about limits on the freedom of movement of the monitors and threatening behavior by the separatists.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said talks with Zannier would focus on efforts to end the conflict between government forces and the Russia-backed separatists, which has killed more than 9,900 people since April 2014.

Zannier was accompanied by Marcel Pesko, the director of the OSCE's conflict prevention center.

Pesko will visit border-crossing points on the Russian-Ukrainian border, portions of which are controlled by the separatists.

The Russian ministry said discussions will also touch on unresolved conflicts in Moldova's Transdniester region, the Nagorno-Karabakh region in Azerbaijan, and elsewhere in the South Caucasus.

With reporting by Interfax and TASS
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