Russia's parliament to vote on suspending Moscow's OSCE participation

Russia's State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin attends a plenary session of the lower house of parliament to discuss a bill allowing the confiscation of property from those convicted of a number of crimes including spreading "deliberately false information" about the Russian army, in Moscow, Russia January 24, 2024. Russian State Duma/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo

(Reuters) - Russia's parliament will vote on Feb. 21 on suspending the country's participation in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation (OSCE), Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said on Tuesday.

The OSCE, which counts Ukraine, the U.S. and Russia among its 57-members, is the successor to a Cold War-era organisation for Soviet and Western powers to engage. Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the organisation has been largely paralysed by Moscow's ongoing use of the effective veto each country has.