"To deprive the delegation of voting rights does not make sense," Kox said. "The sanction that finally was taken, does not mean much, because it says that until April the voting rights will stay suspended, but in April the whole circle will repeat itself."
He said it is a pity many PACE members wanted "to punish" Russia, as the assembly was not a body tasked with punishing or praising individuals or countries, but a platform for parliamentary diplomacy.
"I hope that the Russian delegation will have the wisdom to deal will this decision and it will be here with us in April for this debate," Kox told Sputnik, adding that, hopefully, there will be positive developments in Ukraine by that time.
On Wednesday, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted a resolution divesting the Russian delegation of voting rights in the organization until at least its April session. The Russian delegation's voting rights were previously suspended in spring 2014.
Earlier in the day, the head of Russia's delegation to PACE Alexei Pushkov stated that Russia would leave the organization if deprived of the right to vote.
