Russia calls its suspension from U.N. rights council illegal - RIA

Russia said on Thursday that a vote by United Nations member states to suspend it from the U.N. Human Rights Council was illegal and politically motivated, the RIA news agency reported.

RIA also quoted Gennady Kuzmin, Deputy Russian Ambassador to the United Nations, as saying Russia had decided to give up its membership immediately, on April 7.

The U.N. General Assembly voted to suspend Russia from the Council by 93 votes to 24, with 58 countries abstaining.