<div><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>Russian President Vladimir Putin has put forward a draft bill to terminate the country’s agreements with the Council of Europe (CoE).</b></span><br></div><div><br></div><div>The CoE expelled Russia last March and suspended relations with Belarus in the wake of the Ukraine war.</div><div><br></div><div>The bill sent by Putin to Vyacheslav Volodin, head of the State Duma, the lower house of Russia’s parliament, calls for cancelling 21 agreements with the CoE.</div><div><br></div><div>These include the Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism, the European Charter of Local Self-Government, and the European Social Charter.</div><div><br></div><div>Putin also signed a decree on Tuesday allowing Russian companies to disregard the votes of shareholders from “unfriendly countries.” - Anadolu Agency</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>