MOSCOW, March 17. /TASS/. Russia left the Council of Europe on its own initiative and as of March 16 it regards itself free of any commitments under that organization’s legal acts, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in connection with the CE Committee of Ministers’ statement concerning the termination of Russia’s powers in the organization.
"We quit the organization on our own initiative. Starting from March 16 we regard ourselves free of any commitments under the Council of Europe’s conventions or other legal acts the organization’s membership implies," she said.
Zakharova stressed that Russia had long struggled for the existence of the Council of Europe.
"But subversive activities by US-backed NATO agencies gained the upper hand. The other Council of Europe members had no immunity to resist the ideology of destruction," she added.
The Russian Foreign Ministry on March 15 issued a statement that the Council of Europe had in fact lost its inclusive and comprehensive nature to have been turned into an agency of aggressive dictate of neo-liberal approach to human rights in violation of the principles and values proclaimed in the CE Charter and basic conventions. The Foreign Ministry said that Russia was feeling not regrets about leaving this kind of Council of Europe and that its walkout would not affect the rights and freedoms of Russian citizens.