The resolution was passed with 99 votes for and one abstention, at a PACE session in Strasbourg, France, on Thursday, officials said.
‘Declare the Russian regime a terrorist one’
In the document, the Parliamentary Assembly called on Council of Europe member states “to declare the current Russian regime as a terrorist one,” the independent Russian outlet Meduza reported.
The assembly also denounced Russia’s attempt to annex four Ukrainian regions, describing the so-called referendums held in these provinces as “an affront to international law” and “null and void, with no legal or political effects,” officials said.
Further, PACE appealed for a “comprehensive system” to hold Russia accountable for its aggression and violations of human rights and humanitarian law.
The resolution called on member states “to speed up the establishment of a Special (ad hoc) International Tribunal to prosecute the crime of aggression against Ukraine.”
Also, Russia’s “increased threats of nuclear warfare” are “incompatible with the responsibilities of a nuclear power holding a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council,” the assembly said, calling such threats “abhorrent and reckless,” according to officials.
“In this regard, the Assembly should look into the issue of the seat of the Russian Federation in the United Nations Security Council,” PACE also stated in the resolution.
Ukraine welcomes PACE resolution
Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal praised the move, saying in a tweet: “The first step has been taken. PACE adopted a resolution declaring rf [the Russian Federation] a terrorist regime.”
He added: “russia is bombing cities, killing & torturing civilians, blackmailing with a nuclear attack. It's impossible to negotiate with this regime, to believe them.”
Meanwhile, Oleksiy Goncharenko, a member of Ukraine’s delegation to PACE, stressed that the resolution "noted that the Russian regime is terrorist."
He said: "This is a powerful signal on a global scale, and it is another step to recognize Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism.”
Goncharenko added: “For the first time in history, the Council of Europe declared that it is necessary to give weapons! We are talking about air defence systems.”
The Ukrainian lawmaker also said that the PACE resolution "noted that the presence of Russia in the UN Security Council is not legal, there are no legal reasons why they are there.”
Goncharenko stressed that PACE had called for the establishment of an international tribunal "as soon as possible" to prosecute Russia's aggression against Ukraine.
'Never yet in history was united Europe as strong as it is today': Ukraine's Zelensky
Earlier in the day, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed PACE via video link from Kyiv, telling Council of Europe parliamentarians that “never yet in history was united Europe as strong as it is today.”
The Council of Europe is an international organisation that brings together 46 countries aiming to uphold democracy, human rights and the rule of law in Europe.
UN General Assembly condemns Russia's attempt to annex four Ukrainian regions
PACE’s move came hours after the United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to condemn Russia's attempted annexation of four Ukrainian regions.
A total of 143 countries supported a resolution that called Moscow's move illegal, with only four countries, Syria, Nicaragua, North Korea and Belarus, joining Russia in voting against the declaration, as the Kremlin’s international isolation deepened, news agencies reported.
Russian President Vladimir Putin in late September signed documents to incorporate four regions of Ukraine into Russia at a televised ceremony in the Kremlin.
The move came after Russia held what it called referendums in occupied areas of Ukraine and declared the annexation of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.
Thursday was day 232 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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Source: PAP, pace.coe.int, vodmanager.coe.int, meduza.io