MOSCOW, June 14. /TASS/. Russia withdraws from the Protocol to the 1979 Convention on long-range transboundary air pollution.

This is a response measure taken by Moscow. The Protocol covers long-term financing of the Cooperative Program for Monitoring and Evaluation of the Long-range Transmission of Air Pollutants in Europe (EMEP). Three international research centers were established as part of EMEP, with one of them in Moscow.

Parties to the agreement decided at the 43rd session of the Executive Body of the Convention in December 2023 to terminate operations of the Center in Moscow and relocate it to Ljubljana on the initiative of Ukraine and with support of all European delegations.

Russia’s withdrawal from the Protocol relieves it from commitments of paying a contribution to the EMEP budget, while the country remains a party to the Convention.