'Russophobe’ EU Lawmakers Behind Stripping PACE Voting Rights - Moscow

Stripping Russian delegates of voting rights at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is an act of Russophobia, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Meshkov said Wednesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – At this year's seasonal sessions, PACE upheld its April 2014 decision to revoke the voting rights of the Russian delegation over the country’s alleged involvement in the Ukrainian internal crisis.

The Assembly stripped the Russian delegation of its right to participate in statutory bodies and monitoring activities, but stopped short of annulling the Russian delegation's credentials.

"I would not get too bogged down in this issue related to PACE. This is separatist action among Russophobe lawmakers, nothing more," Meshkov said at a press conference organized by the International Information Agency Rossiya Segodnya.

At this year's seasonal sessions, PACE upheld its April 2014 decision to revoke the voting rights of the Russian delegation over the country’s alleged involvement in the Ukrainian crisis. The Assembly stripped the Russian delegation of its right to participate in statutory bodies and monitoring activities, but stopped short of annulling the Russian delegation's credentials.

"The entire modern history has proven that sanctions are a road to nowhere," Meshkov reaffirmed at the Rossiya Segodnya conference.

PACE President Anne Brasseur said the Russian delegation’s credentials may be reconsidered in January 2016.