MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th November, 2020) The Council of Europe should not turn a blind eye to the discrimination faced by millions of Russians and Russian-speaking people based in Ukraine and the Baltic states, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday.
"In Ukraine and the Baltic nations, millions are discriminated against because they are Russians or speak Russian," Lavrov said during a meeting of the council's Committee of Ministers, which was held via videoconference.
The Russian foreign minister added that the discrimination faced by Russians and Russian speakers in Ukraine and the Baltic states resembled a 21st-century version of apartheid.
"Hundreds of thousands are considered 'non-citizens' and deprived of their basic human rights. The Council of Europe should not turn a blind eye to this 21st-century apartheid. This is causing irreparable damage to its [the council's] reputation," Lavrov remarked.
