Grushko: Russia has no intention of returning to the Council of Europe

Moscow (ST): Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko confirmed that the Council of Europe has ceased to be an organization aimed at achieving the unity of European peoples, and therefore there is no point in Russia returning to it.

TASS news agency quoted Grushko as saying in an interview with Parliamentskaya Gazeta magazine, in response to a question about the possibility of returning to the Council: “Let me remind you that the Council of Europe, as stated in Chapter One of its charter, was created to achieve greater unity for the European peoples, and because of the practices of the West, the matter has now turned against it and there is no point in going back.”

Grushko noted that certain interaction between Russia and the Council of Europe would be possible within the framework of the remaining agreements and protocols for them, in which Moscow participates, but only on an equal footing with respect for Russian interests.

Russia withdrew from the Council of Europe in March of last year, and the Russian Foreign Ministry explained at the time that NATO countries and the European Union are misusing their majority in the Council of Europe, and constantly turning this organization into a tool for implementing an anti-Russian policy.

K.Q.