The representative of the UN Secretary General considered the probable suspension of Russia’s membership in the UNWTO a “disastrous precedent”

Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN Secretary General, fears that the suspension of Russia’s membership in the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) could create “a detrimental precedent for the functioning of the multilateral system.” He expressed this opinion in an interview with RIA Novosti.

Prior to this, the UNWTO Executive Board supported the holding of an extraordinary general assembly in the near future, where the issue of suspending Russia’s membership due to events in Ukraine will be decided.

And earlier, on March 16, within the framework of sanctions against Russia because of its military operation in Ukraine, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe voted for the withdrawal of the Russian Federation from this organization after 26 years of participation in it.

Meanwhile, on March 11, another international organization – Interpol – announced that it would not exclude Russia, although it would complicate the procedure for receiving requests from it.

Recall that on February 21, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed decrees recognizing the independence of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR), and on February 24 he made an urgent appeal to the Russians and announced a special military operation in Donbass. In his speech, he stated that “circumstances require decisive action from Russia” and stressed that “Russia will not allow Ukraine to have nuclear weapons.”

In response to Russia’s actions, Western countries (USA, Canada, European Union, Great Britain, Japan) announced new, tougher sanctions against the Russian Federation, including financial and economic ones.

Thus, in particular, Russian banks fell under the sanctions, including Sberbank, VTB, Novikombank, FC Otkritie and Sovcombank, and for a number of state-owned companies it was difficult to attract foreign capital.

Later, the EU countries and the United States agreed to disconnect Russian banks that fell under sanctions from the international system of interbank transactions and information exchange SWIFT. In addition, it was decided to freeze the assets of the Bank of Russia, which will create difficulties for its use of international reserves. EU countries also pledged to take steps to limit the sale of citizenship — the so-called “golden passports” that allow wealthy Russians connected to the Russian government to become citizens of EU states and access their financial systems. In addition, the European Union, the United States, Canada and a number of other countries have closed the sky for Russian aircraft.

You can follow the chronicle of events around Ukraine here.