(VOVworld) – 57 foreign ministers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) met in the German city of Hamburg on Thursday to discuss security issues including conflicts in Ukraine and Syria.

OSCE Foreign Ministers Meeting (Photo: Twitter)

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who holds the OSCE's rotating chairmanship this year, said that "the OSCE has become even more important in these times of crisis as an organization to preserve peace and security in Europe." The group has deployed monitors to oversee peace efforts in Ukraine. Mr. Steinmeier and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry both met separately with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov Wednesday evening ahead of the meeting to discuss Syria.