Latvian embassy car in front of the Russian Foreign Ministry building. File photoMOSCOW, March 4Russia's activity in the Council of the Baltic Sea States is suspended due to the situation around Ukraine, follows from the collective statement of the member countries of the organization. «We, the Foreign Ministers and the High Representative (EU — ed.), strongly condemn Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine. Nothing will be able to justify Russia's illegal use of force… We do not see the possibility of continuing our cooperation, as the framework of the Council suggests, with the Russian Federation Under the current circumstances, Russia should not take advantage and take part in any kind of cooperation under the leadership of the CBSS We will ensure the removal of Russia from the meetings, work and projects of the CBSS and its working bodies until cooperation based on the fundamental principles of international law becomes possible again,” the general statement published by the Latvian Foreign Ministry says. The statement separately notes that the activities of Belarus as a state Observer of the Council of States the Baltic Sea is also suspended. The “involvement” of the republic in “Russian aggression against Ukraine” is cited as the reason for such a step. Earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that the unwinding of anti-Russian hysteria and the politicization of the work of the Council of the Baltic Sea States, as well as other formats of regional cooperation in the North, is a road to nowhere . The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reacted after the Norwegian CBSS Presidency issued a statement about the «impossibility of continuing honest and trusting cooperation» in the Baltic due to «an unprovoked military attack by Russia on Ukraine» and canceled the meeting of the Committee of Senior Officials of the CBSS (the main working body of the Council). Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24. Russian President Vladimir Putin called it the goal of «protecting people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years.» According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces only strike at military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops, nothing threatens the civilian population. drown» Russia and Belarus in the conflict in Ukraine
