MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russia may resume its fully-fledged participation in the work of the Parliament Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in 2017, Speaker of Russia's Federation Council Valentina Matvienko said Wednesday.
"I am not simply an optimist, I am an optimist-realist, and I believe that there are all necessary conditions for the Russian delegation to return to its work in PACE," Matvienko said following a meeting with PACE President Pedro Agramunt in Strasbourg ahead of the opening of the European Summit of Presidents of Parliament.
7 September 2016, 12:37 GMT
PACE adopted a resolution in April 2014, barring Russian lawmakers from participating in the work of its three key bodies – the Bureau, the Presidential Committee and the Standing Committee.
Russia did not renew its credentials ahead of the Assembly’s 2016 winter session and made its return conditional on the full restoration of its delegates' voting rights.
