"Let's stop maintaining or increasing sanctions," Tiny Kox said, addressing PACE.
He noted that the absence of Russian representatives in the organization lowers the level of finding solutions to the crisis in Ukraine.
Kox underlined that even though the Unified Left Group sees Crimea reunification with Russia as "illegal annexation," dialogue should be maintained.
"It does not make sense to talk about Russia without Russians here," Kox said, adding that PACE should work on dialogue with Russia and "not be part of the problem."
After Crimea reunified with Russia in 2014 and the internal Ukrainian crisis escalated, Western countries have imposed several rounds of sanctions against Russia, accusing it of fueling the conflict in Ukraine. Moscow denied these claims stressing that the policy of sanctions is counterproductive.
On Monday, the European Union decided to extend sanctions against Russia until January 31, 2016.
In April 2014, PACE stripped Russia of its voting rights and excluded it from leadership positions in the organization, citing the country's alleged role in the Ukrainian crisis and, in January 2015, prolonged this decision till the end of the year. Russia, in turn, has decided to stay out of PACE sessions until 2016.
