The building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. File photoMOSCOW, February 26The decision of the Council of Europe to suspend Russia's powers in the organization is politicized, said the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova. standards,» Zakharova said in a comment published on the Foreign Ministry portal. At an extraordinary meeting on Friday, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe voted to suspend Russia's representation in this organization. The formal reason was a special military operation conducted by Russia in Ukraine. In practice, this means that Russia was deprived of the opportunity to participate in the work of the statutory bodies of the Council of Europe. On February 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed decrees recognizing the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, which had declared their independence from Kyiv back in 2014, and in the early morning of February 24, Russia launched a military operation to demilitarize Ukraine. In a televised address to fellow citizens, Putin said that circumstances “require decisive and immediate action,” as the Donbass republics asked for help. According to the Russian leader, the entire responsibility for the bloodshed will be on the conscience of the ruling regime in Ukraine. Later, the Russian Defense Ministry emphasized that the Russian Armed Forces do not inflict any strikes on the cities of Ukraine: military infrastructure is disabled by high-precision means. According to the agency, the civilian population is not in danger. The Ministry of Defense added that the Ukrainian border guards «do not offer any resistance», in some cases the Ukrainian military surrenders and after that they have the opportunity to return to their families.
The State Duma called the Council of Europe without Russia «unnecessary»Posted by: Varvara Skokshina
