The Russian Foreign Ministry said Thursday it would leave the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) after the General Assembly voted to suspend the country’s membership.
The ministry called the UN vote "an illegal and politically motivated step for the purpose of demonstrative punishment of a sovereign UN member state carrying out an independent domestic and foreign policy."
It said Western countries monopolized the council and use it for their "opportunistic purposes."
"Having proclaimed themselves ‘a standard’ in the field of human rights, these states are directly involved in gross and mass violations of human rights," it said.
The ministry added that despite the withdrawal from the UNHRC, Russia will continue to contribute to the protection of human rights.
