STRASBOURG (Sputnik) – The president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Anne Brasseur, said Monday she deeply regretted Russia's decision not to participate in the Assembly's meetings following the suspension of its voting rights.
"I sincerely regret the decision of the Russian delegation to suspend activities in the Assembly," Brasseur said at the opening of the PACE spring session in Strasbourg, France.
She reiterated in her speech that dialogue is the tool for "prosperous and united Europe."
The Russian delegation walked out of PACE's 2014 spring session in protest against the Assembly banning it from voting for a year due to Russia's reunification in Crimea a month before.
Russia resumed its boycott in January 2015 after the Council of Europe's consultative body voted to prolong the voting restrictions until substantial progress is made in the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis.
