Russia opts out of European anti-corruption convention

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia has opted out of a European convention on fighting corruption, a move that comes in the wake of its withdrawal from the Council of Europe following start of Moscow’s military action in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin asked the lower house of parliament, the State Duma, to terminate the Council of Europe’s convention on fighting corruption that Russia signed in 1999. Putin noted in his letter to the Duma that the Council of Europe’s decision to restrict Moscow’s participation in a body charged with overseeing general compliance with the convention was “unacceptable” and “discriminatory.”