The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has called on member states to declare Russian President Vladimir Putin illegitimate after the end of his current presidential term and has declared Russia a dictatorship.

As PACE’s press service informed, in the unanimously adopted resolution, PACE also called on member states to put an end to all contacts with Putin, except for humanitarian contacts and in the pursuit of peace.

The Assembly stressed that Vladimir Putin has been in power as President or Prime Minister of the Russian Federation since 2000. Amendments to the Russian Constitution in July 2020 extended his potential presidency until 2036, prompting concerns over the lack of checks and balances.

Combined with the growing repression of domestic opponents and Russia's actions in Ukraine, this underscores the cost of out-of-control presidential power, PACE said.

"The overwhelming power of the President resulting from the extremely long term in office combined with the lack of any checks and balances such as a strong parliament, an independent judiciary, free media and a vibrant civil society has turned the Russian Federation into a de facto dictatorship," the parliamentarians said.

Having adopted the resolution based on the Dutch delegation to PACE member Pieter Omtzigt's report, the Assembly cited the conclusions of the Council of Europe's Venice Commission that "term limit waiver for the incumbent President violates both the Russian constitution and international legal principles".

The Assembly pointed to Russia's aggression against Ukraine and its consequences as proof that dictatorial regimes "constitute a threat to the international peace and security and to the territorial integrity and political independence of their neighbours", as defined in Article 2 of the UN Charter.

Therefore, the parliamentarians stated that restoring democracy in Russia is not only in the interests of the Russian people but also of Europe and the whole world.

Finally, the Assembly reaffirmed its support for the establishment of a special international criminal tribunal "to hold to account the Russian leadership, including Vladimir Putin," for their actions, starting with the illegal annexation of Crimea, the war in Donbas and the downing of flight MH17.

Earlier, PACE voted to recognise the Holodomor [Soviet-made artificial famine that targeted the Ukrainian people – ed.] as an act of genocide against the Ukrainian people.