MOSCOW, May 26. /TASS/. Russia's forced withdrawal from the Council of Europe led to the termination of Russia's membership in the Cooperation Group to Combat Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking in Drugs (The Pompidou Group), Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Oleg Syromolotov said in an interview with TASS.

"The flagrant Russophobia now forces Brussels to deliberately go against sound logic to destroy many useful formats of anti-drug cooperation, including on Afghanistan. The Russian Federation's forced withdrawal from the Council of Europe led to the termination of our country's membership in the anti-drug Pompidou Group," he said.

Syromolotov noted that the expert dialogue with the EU on combatting drugs has until recently been one of the few that has not been subject to political conjuncture.

"Interdepartmental meetings did not stop even during the pandemic. The last round took place under the Slovenian presidency in the online format last November," the deputy minister recalled, "The interest in this topic is justified. The smuggling of opiates and methamphetamine from Afghanistan remains a common threat throughout Europe. Drug seizures along the northern and Balkan routes are growing. New smuggling routes and methods through the Caucasus and Black Sea regions are being recorded. All this, of course, requires consolidation of efforts."

On March 15, Pyotr Tolstoy, head of Russia’s delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and deputy speaker of the Russian State Duma lower parliament house, said that the decision to withdraw from the Council of Europe had been made, stressing that Russia was leaving the Council "of its own free will; it is a well-balanced and deliberate decision".