Russia might not take part in PACE sessions in October — delegation head

Russian delegation can refuse to take part in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) sessions not only in June but also in October, chairman of the Duma foreign affairs committee Alexei Pushkov said on Friday.

This was possible if PACE stance on giving mandate back to Russia remained unchanged since sanctions were introduced for the whole of the year, he told journalists commenting on the phone conversation between the Duma speaker Sergei Naryshkin and PACE chairwoman Anne Brasseur.

Pushkov lamented the absence of notable progress in PACE position in relation to Russia.

Pushkov who is head of the Russian delegation to PACE said the country had refused to take part in the June session in connection to the anti-Russian sanctions that “discriminate against” Russia and “exclude any chance of equal cooperation with PACE”. Brasseur proposed Russia to revise the attitude but Naryshkin confirmed Russia would stick to its view of the situation as “normal cooperation” would not be able until the sanctions were lifted, Pushkov said about the conversation. In that, he added, Russia rejected PACE plan to maintain the faсade of a dialogue with Russia.“It is to be hoped that inescapable facts and efforts of those who are trying to convey truth about the events underway to the European parliamentarians, will promote progress, to open way for normalization of the Russian-PACE relations,” said the deputy.