Russia could withdraw from European Convention on Human Rights, state news agency RIA reports

The court should reverse decisions that go against Russia's interests, reports suggested

Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses the Federal Assembly at Moscow's Manezh exhibition centre on March 01, 2018 (YURI KADOBNOV/AFP/Getty Images)

Russia could withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights and end cooperation with the European Court of Human Rights, the state-run RIA news agency has reported.

Citing unnamed government sources, the agency said the reason for the possible withdrawal was the fact that many of the court's decisions ran counter to Russia's interests.

If those decisions aren't reversed then the the country will pull out of the agreements, the state news agency said it had been told by officials in the "relevant Russian departments".

The court isn't doing enough to take into account the peculiarities of Russian law, it said. It also claimed that it was getting more "politicised" in the way it made its decisions.

"The Russian authorities are exploring the possibility of denouncing the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and terminating cooperation with the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) if the current line of the court, which appears to take decisions against Russia's interests, is not corrected," RIA quoted the officials as saying.

Russia has in the past adopted laws that allow it to overrule judgements from the European court, which is intended to protect human rights. In 2015, it passed a law that meant its own constitution took precedence – on the same day the country was criticised for its spying regime by the court.