Moscow-Sana
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expressed Russia's readiness to hold a constructive and equal dialogue in the Council of Europe.
Sputnik quoted the Russian Foreign Ministry as saying in a statement on its website that this came during a meeting between Lavrov and President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Hendrik Dams, explaining that “Russian assessments of the worrying situation in the Council of Europe were communicated to the interlocutors, especially in the Parliamentary Assembly, and it was reaffirmed that the side was open The Russian Federation for a constructive, equal and free dialogue from the logic of double standards in order to restore the role of the Council of Europe as a main tool for strengthening the unity of European peoples.
The statement added, "Attention has been drawn to the problem of the water blockade of the Crimean Peninsula as a human crime and collective punishment for the inhabitants of the peninsula and the need to intensify efforts to guarantee the rights of national minorities, including education in their mother tongue and freedom of access to information."
It is noteworthy that the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe is one of the legal organs of the Council of Europe and it supervises the European Court of Human Rights.