The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe has suspended Russia's membership in the organization, the organization's website reported.

The statement said the decision meant that Russia remained a member of the Council of Europe and a party to relevant Council of Europe conventions, including the European Convention on Human Rights.

The suspension is not a final measure but a temporary measure that leaves communication channels open.

The ECHR is not affected by this provision. A judge elected to the European Court of Human Rights from Russia remains a member of the court.

The Committee of Ministers may also offer a state to leave the Council of Europe. If the state agrees, the withdrawal date will be 1 January of the following year. But the Committee may also, by a decision, terminate a state's membership in the Council from a date which it will determine itself.

"We lived without the Council of Europe before - we will live on," Senator Vladimir Dzhabarov said.

For his part, the deputy speaker of the State Duma, Pyotr Tolstoy, said that Russia would remain the largest European country, without which no Council of Europe would be possible or needed.