MOSCOW, January 30 (Sputnik) – Russia has no plans to withdraw from the Council of Europe's institutions and wind up bilateral cooperation programs despite being stripped of the right to vote in the council’s Parliamentary Assembly, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Friday.
“The Russian Federation is set to continue its constructive participation in the work of the Council of Ministers and other deliberative and consultative bodies of the Council of Europe and the implementation of Russia-Council of Europe cooperation programs that are important for us,” the ministry's spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said.
Earlier in the week, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) deprived the Russian delegation of voting rights until April over Russia’s alleged involvement in the Ukrainian crisis.
Russia, which has repeatedly denied any involvement in Ukraine’s internal conflict, responded to the move by suspending its work in PACE until the end of the year.
