BELGRADE, April 26. /TASS/. The support of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe for the unrecognized Kosovo's accession request shows the degradation of the organization and its transition to full control of Washington and Brussels, Russian Ambassador to Serbia Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko said on Wednesday.

"The support of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe for the Kosovo quasi-state’s request for membership in the Council and the launching there of the relevant procedure is vivid evidence of what we have repeatedly said," the press service of the Russian embassy quoted the diplomat as saying, "It is evidence of the degradation of the organization, its rebirth into a tool of Washington and EU’s Brussels to further the collapse of European security, cooperation, the system of international law. Similarly, with regard to the Kosovo case, the duplicity and deceitfulness of the so-called EU and US mediators in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue is evident, as well as their complete disregard for the opinion and red lines of the Serbian leadership in connection with the so-called EU agreement on the normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina. As we understand, there is no full agreement with it on Serbia's part, which has been repeatedly voiced by the country's president."

"The Kosovo settlement is in a deadlock. The West has taken a line to push Pristina into the international structures, as a reward for [Prime Minister of the unrecognized Kosovo] Kurti regime’s terror and persecution of Serbs. Ukraine’s abstention at the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, which plays into the hands of Pristina’s patrons, is not surprising: the Kiev regime acts at Washington’s orders," Botsan-Kharchenko concluded.

Earlier, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic promised to revise his country’s attitude toward Ukraine following Monday’s vote on Kosovo’s membership in the Council of Europe. "If there is someone who ignores the territorial integrity of the Republic of Serbia, why should we respect their territorial integrity?" he said, pondering on why different approaches on countries’ territorial integrity existed. He separately pointed to the fact that he thought that "abstaining from the vote [on Kosovo’s membership in the Council of Europe] was equal to the recognition of Kosovo". He also noted that Ukraine had requested a break ahead of the voting for consultations with US officials.

Serbia earlier voted in all international organizations to condemn the violation of Ukraine's territorial integrity.

On April 24, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe at an extraordinary meeting had accepted Pristina’s request to consider its membership in the Council of Europe. The request has been sent to the Parliamentary Assembly of the organization for further consideration.