Russia to pay contributions to PACE if fully reinstated as member - Matviyenko
ST. PETERSBURG. April 18 (Interfax) - Russia is ready to transfer outstanding Council of Europe contribution payments in full if its rights to work at PACE are completely reinstated, Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko said on Thursday.
"If Russia returns to PACE, we are ready to resume our commitments. But only in the event of a full-scale resumption of our delegation's work there," Matviyenko told reporters following a working meeting with PACE head Liliane Maury Pasquier.
"It's been five years since Russia was stripped of the right to vote at PACE," Matviyenko said. "We showed enough patience and restraint but at some point decided not to pay contributions. The funds committed by Russia as contributions to the Council of Europe are reserved in a special account," she said.
Matviyenko and Pasquier met on Thursday on the sidelines of the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly at St. Petersburg's Tavrichesky (Tauride) Palace that is hosting a conference on countering international terrorism.