In December 1992, Kozyrev underlined his opposition to conservative, nationalistic forces in Russia with a dramatic and unprecedented diplomatic maneuver. He stunned the foreign ministers of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) with a speech that echoed many of the positions of the conservative opposition in Russia and seemed to threaten a return to anti-Western policies. The speech surprised even the Russian delegation. But an hour after giving the speech he retracted it, announcing that the speech was intended to draw attention to the dangers that would come if the opposition took power from President Yeltsin.