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Council of Europe chooses ‘megaphone diplomacy’ to communicate with Russia — diplomat

Maria Zakharova noted that "before speaking about the esssence of this message, it should be studied carefully"

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service/TASS

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova

© Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service/TASS

MOSCOW, December 13. /TASS/. The Council of Europe has chosen the path of ‘megaphone diplomacy’ in its communication with Russia, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Tuesday.

"The Russian Foreign Ministry is receiving requests from the Russian media to comment on the letter from Council of Europe Secretary General Marija Pejcinovic Buric to Sergey Lavrov regarding our country's compliance with the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights," Zakharova pointed out in a statement, commenting on the situation, "Unfortunately, the Council of Europe has taken the path of 'megaphone diplomacy' in communication with us. Strasbourg hastened to publicize and publish this letter virtually simultaneously with its delivery to the Russian officials," Zakharova said.

The diplomat noted that "before speaking about the esssence of this message, it should be studied carefully".

According to Zakharova, the purpose of this step is "to show how the Council of Europe allegedly cares about human rights in Russia, while our country, on the contrary, 'evades' its international obligations." "This clearly demonstrates that this is not a desire to enter into a meaningful dialogue with our country, but just another propaganda campaign," she stressed.

"What is left out of the equation is the fact that this organization, with its own hands, with the purpose of pleasing the Russophobic majority, has destroyed the common legal and humanitarian space on the continent, making it impossible for Russia to continue to be a member of the Council of Europe and participate in the main conventions of the organization," Zahkarova concluded.

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