The Foreign Ministry called the condition for the resumption of payment of contributions to the UNECE

Russia will be ready to pay contributions to the UN Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) again after the restoration of a respectful and constructive dialogue on the platform of the commission, reported in the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The decision on non-payment of the Russian voluntary contribution to the UNECE for 2022 is of a forced nature, the ministry explained.

“This step is of a forced nature and is associated with the destructive line of the United States and the countries of the European Union in this UN regional commission. These states, in violation of internal procedures, “pushed through” a number of illegitimate decisions in the UNECE Executive Committee aimed at limiting interaction between Russia and the Commission. <...> We will be ready to return to the practice of making Russian voluntary contributions to the UNECE after the restoration of a respectful and constructive interstate dialogue on the platform of the Commission. We continue the practice of financing development projects through other organizations of the UN system,” the message says.

The Russian Foreign Ministry noted that the authority and effectiveness of the UNECE, as well as the countries of Central Asia and the Caucasus, which are the main recipients of Russian assistance, suffered from the unfriendly actions of the European Union and the United States. “It was in their interests that our joint projects with the UNECE were developed and implemented,” the Foreign Ministry added.

January 18, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin accepted the proposal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs not to pay the contribution to the UN Economic Commission for Europe for the last year. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was instructed to inform the secretariat of the commission about the decision.

In the same month it became known that Russia will pay contribution to the budgets of the Council of Europe (CE) only for the period of stay in the organization from January 1 to March 15, 2022. The amount of the Russian contribution to the budgets of the Council of Europe and its partial agreements for 2022 was supposed to be about 33.7 million euros, but paid will only be about 5.7 million euros.