MOSCOW, March 15. /TASS/. Russia has taken a decision to withdraw from the Council of Europe and the foreign minister’s letter about it has been handed over to the Council of Europe secretary general, Pyotr Tolstoy, deputy speaker of the Russian State Duma (lower parliament house) and head of Russia’s delegation to PACE, said on Tuesday.

"The decision to withdraw from the Council of Europe has been taken. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s corresponding letter has been handed over to the organization’s secretary general," he wrote on his Telegram channel.

"Russia is withdrawing from the Council of Europe under its own volition. It is a well-balanced and deliberate decision," he stressed.

According to Tolstoy, the responsibility for the wreckage of dialogue between Russia and the Council of Europe "rests on NATO countries, which have been using the topic of human rights in their own geopolitical interests." "In view of the unprecedented political and sanction pressure on our country, Russia is not planning to pay its annual contribution to this organization (the Council of Europe - TASS)," he added.

He noted that the decision to withdraw from the Council of Europe was taken "amid another anti-Russian discussion in PACE, which may yield yet another false Russophobic resolution based on ungrounded allegations."

On Monday, chairman of the State Duma international committee Leonid Slutsky called for launching interstate withdrawal procedures as soon as possible. However, in his words, the final decision is up to President Vladimir Putin.

The Russian foreign ministry on March 10 released a statement saying that Russia is not going to take part in the Council of Europe. Unfriendly EU and NATO states are abusing their absolute majority in the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers to continue "their policy toward ruining the Council of Europe and the common humanitarian and legal space in Europe," the ministry stressed.