Moscow and Astana have a common view of how to turn the OSCE into an effective international organization, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said after talks with his Kazakh counterpart Kanat Saudabayev in Astana.

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which comprises 56 states, was created in 1975 as a forum intended to unite the East and the West amid the Cold War.

However, in recent years, Russia has repeatedly criticized the organization for its inability to assure international security and stability.

The OSCE, which has failed to sign a charter, held its latest high-level summit in 1999. The latest declaration was adopted in 2002.

Kazakhstan, which currently holds the organization's rotating chair, has pledged to hold an OSCE summit in 2010.

"We fully support the plans of Kazakhstan's chairmanship in the OSCE," the Russian foreign minister said.

"We have a common vision of how we should act for the year to complete successfully as regards reforming the body and turning it into a full-fledged international organization, which assures a really universal approach to all security aspects and acts on the basis of respect for all its member states", he added.

Lavrov pledged to actively develop OSCE's economic strategy during Russia's chairmanship.

On February 15, during a meeting with his Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev in Moscow, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev also supported Kazakhstan's initiative to hold an OSCE summit.

ASTANA, February 22 (RIA Novosti)