Russian delegation ready to resume work at PACE if sanctions against it are lifted - Russian MP Pushkov
MOSCOW. April 12 (Interfax) - The chairperson of the State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee, Alexei Pushkov, has said that the Russian side will be ready to resume its work at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe if restrictive measures imposed on its delegation to PACE are lifted.
"The Russian side has confirmed Russia's well-known position that the Russian delegation will be ready to return to such work [at PACE] if the sanctions against it are lifted and if conditions for its equal participation in the organization's activity are ensured," according to a press release received by Interfax on Tuesday after Pushkov's meeting with PACE's United European Left group chairperson and member of the assembly's Presidential Committee Tiny Kox. The meeting was held in Moscow on Tuesday.
This statement was made when discussing issues surrounding relations between Russia and the Council of Europe, primarily the conflict situation caused by the sanctions that were imposed by PACE on the Russian delegation.
"The Dutch referendum has highlighted the need to look for ways to return the Russian delegation to work at PACE," according to the statement.
The sides also discussed relations between Russia and the European Union, as well as the consequences of the Dutch referendum on the Ukraine-EU association agreement.
In April 2014, the Russian delegation to PACE was stripped of its rights to vote, participate in monitoring missions and in the assembly's ruling structures over the events in Ukraine and around Crimea.
In 2015, PACE decided to extend these sanctions. In response, the Russian delegation said that it was suspending its work at this international institution until all of its rights were restored in full.
The existing restrictive measures against the Russian delegation may result in Russia's refusal to allow PACE monitors to work at the State Duma elections in September of this year.
