OREANDA-NEWS  Russia, despite Western pressure, will take part in the elections to the UN Human Rights Council and, in general, will defend the principles of cooperation in the council, said Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.

He recalled that Russia was elected to the UN Human Rights Council in 2020 and actively worked in it until April 2022, when Russia's membership in the HRC was suspended by a non-consensual resolution of the UN General Assembly adopted at the initiative of the United States and its allies.

"This decision was, among other things, the result of unprecedented political pressure and economic blackmail by the "collective West" against constructively minded states before the vote in the General Assembly. Nevertheless, Russia continues to actively participate in the activities of the Council in observer status. We are not indifferent to the fate of this key UN human rights body, whose functioning is far from ideal," Ryabkov said during the high-level segment of the 52nd session of the UN Human Rights Council.