Russia says CERN decision to cut science cooperation is unacceptable

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday that a decision by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) to cut cooperation with Russian scientists was politicised, discriminatory and unacceptable.

CERN said in December it would cut cooperation with Russia from November 2024 and Belarus from June due to the war in Ukraine.

“We consider such actions to be politicised and absolutely unacceptable,” Zakharova told reporters in Moscow. “The West is increasing pressure on our country in the field of fundamental science.”

Zakharova said the decision by CERN was discriminatory against Russian scientists.

CERN, which provides a unique range of particle accelerator facilities, formalised cooperation with the Soviet Union in 1967.

(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)