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Anti-Russian smear campaign launched under pretext of violations in Chechnya — ministry

"These actions are conditioned by the aim of expanding the anti-Russian campaign ahead of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Milan on December 6-7," the Russian Foreign Ministry said
Russian Foreign Ministry Sergey Fadeichev/TASS
Russian Foreign Ministry
© Sergey Fadeichev/TASS

MOSCOW, November 2. /TASS/. Under the pretext of human rights violations in the Russian Caucasus republic of Chechnya, several countries are trying to launch a campgain against Russia ahead of the meeting of foreign ministers of OSCE member countries scheduled for December 6-7 in Milan, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a commentary distributed on Friday.

The foreign ministry reminded that 16 member countries of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), including the UK, Germany, France and the US, earlier decided to launch the so-called Moscow Mechanism that envisages forming a group of experts tasked with investigating the situation on the site and developing recommendations over alleged human rights violations in Chechnya.

"It is apparent that these actions are conditioned by the aim of expanding the anti-Russian campaign ahead of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Milan on December 6-7. Taking into account these circumstances, we consider the attempts to launch the Vienna and Moscow Mechanisms groundless," the foreign ministry said.

The ministry noted that when the Russian side asked the initiators of launching these mechanisms to provide some concrete evidence of human rights violations in Chechnya, only links to media reports were provided, and no substantial evidence was presented. "We confirm the Russian side's readiness to continue a constructive dialogue on human rights issues," the foreign ministry added.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov earlier said that media reports about persecution and extrajudicial killings of persons with a different sexual orientation in Chechnya do not find any confirmation. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov earlier noted that the Russian authorities will react strongly if it is confirmed that the rights of sexual minorities are violated in the Chechen Republic.