The mega European science lab that houses the world's largest atom smasher is taking new steps to further limit its cooperation with Russian research institutes in the wake of Russia's "special military operation" in Ukraine, the European Organization for Nuclear Research announced Friday.

Under the new measures, the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) will suspend all joint events with Russian institutes and pause considering any new candidates from Russia and Belarus as their staff.

The council will also suspend all collaboration with the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR), an international grouping of 19 member nations based in Dubna, Russia.

CERN is the governing body of the Geneva-based lab with 23 member states.

Nearly 7 percent of 18,000-odd researchers of CERN from around the world are linked to Russian institutions. CERN suspended new collaborations with Russia and stripped Russia of its observer status at the organization on March 8.

At the moment, the issue of whether to further sanction Russia is pressing because the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), world's largest and most powerful particle accelerator, is set to start its third-ever run next month.

Russian scientists have been involved in planning multiple experiments of LHC, as the machine propels particles through an underground, 27-kilometer ring of superconducting magnets in and around Geneva and generates science that can help elucidate mysteries like dark matter or the standard model of particle physics.