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Russian delegation: PACE’s report on Ukraine most glaring show of double standards

PACE held an emergency debate on the ‘Ukrainian problem’ Wednesday

© EPA/RAINER JENSEN

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STRASBOURG, April 09. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian delegation has dismissed a report on the situation in Ukraine published by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) as the most glaring manifestation of double standards throughout the history of the Council of Europe.

PACE held an emergency debate on the ‘Ukrainian problem’ Wednesday accompanied by the passage of a resolution, which apportioned all blame for the latest developments in Ukraine to Russia.

“Threats are not coming out of Russia,” Alexei Pushkov, the head of the delegation who is also chairman of the foreign policy committee in the State Duma said speaking from the PACE rostrum.

By making such claims, “PACE rapporteurs showed solidarity with racist parties (in Ukraine),” he said.

Deputy head of the delegation, Leonid Slutsky, supported Pushkov and said it was important to speak about an unlawful arrival at power in Kiev of the people, some of whom espoused Nazi ideology. “That’s unacceptable for today’s Europe,” Slutsky said.

Slutsky expressed full disagreement with the rhetoric of the report, which exposed the fact that the document had been written “far away from Strasbourg.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised (to learn) it was written in Washington,” he said, urging PACE to refrain from voting on the report, which he said was a stunning instance of double standards.

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FACTBOX: Collective Security Treaty Organization

The Collective Security Treaty came into force on April 20, 1994 to herald the emergence what would eventually become the Collective Security Treaty Organization. The six member-countries are Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan