Russia announced on Tuesday the start of its withdrawal from the Council of Europe, after facing mounting international isolation over its military operation in Ukraine.
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The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted on its website that an official notification signed by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had been delivered to the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, Maria Begsinovich Boric.
The statement added that the members of the European Union and NATO abused their hegemony in the Council, turning it into an anti-Russian tool and refraining from equal dialogue and all the principles laid down in the founding of the Council of Europe.
In the statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry accused the Council of Europe of discriminating against Moscow by preventing Russia from working in its legal bodies.