The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has decided to expel russia and agreed that Ukraine needs to be provided with air defense means. This was reported by "Evropeiska pravda".
The decision to exclude russia was supported by 216; abstained - three, no one opposed.
During the consideration of the resolution, it was reported that russia had already applied to withdraw its membership. "But this does not stop our plans, does not interrupt the procedure," the PACE President commented on the attempt.
In its resolution, the PACE recommends terminating russia's membership in the Council of Europe due to the incompatibility of its actions with the principles of organization. At the same time, given that russia will formally remain a member of the organization until the end of this year, the Assembly requests that the European Court of Human Rights investigate the lawsuits against russia as soon as possible.
The PACE also seeks to support non-governmental organizations that oppose the russian regime and intend to work "with human rights defenders, democratic forces, free media and independent civil society in russia."
Another important decision made at the meeting was the amendments on establishing a no-fly zone in Ukraine and the provision of military assistance to our country. Although the Council of Europe is not involved in security issues, the Assembly ultimately endorsed a compromise formula. The PACE addressed all states-members to "consider increasing their assistance to Ukraine in its efforts to strengthen the defense of its territory, including its airspace, to reduce casualties and tragic humanitarian consequences of russia's rapacious war."
Since the first day of the war, 24 February 2022, Ukraine has been asking European partners and the NATO to provide a no-fly zone over Ukraine so that Russia cannot launch airstrikes on civilians.