Russia withdraws from the Council of Europe

          Russia has quit the Council of Europe, the continent’s top human rights organisation, according to the country’s foreign ministry.

The ministry stated in a statement that the European Union and NATO members were “hostile to Russia”, accusing them of abusing their majority on the council’s ministerial committee.

According to the Russian ministry, these countries “continue their agenda of dismantling the Council of Europe and Europe’s common humanitarian and legal space”.

“Russia has no intention of accepting the collective West’s undermining measures in order to impose a ‘rules-based order’ to replace international legislation breached by the US and its satellites”, the statement said.

The Council of Europe is Europe’s oldest political organisation, whose mission is to promote human rights, democracy, and the rule of law throughout the continent.

It sprang from the ruins of World War II in 1949.