Duma Speaker Confirms Russia to Skip January PACE Session

Sergei Naryshkin, the speaker of Russia's lower house of parliament, the State Duma, said that Russian delegation will not going to participate in January session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The speaker of Russia's lower house of parliament, the State Duma, confirmed Monday that Russia would skip the upcoming session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).

"We are not going in January for sure," Sergei Naryshkin told reporters.

Also on Monday, Alexei Pushkov, the long-time head of Russia’s delegation and chief of the parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee, said the country’s participation in the PACE sessions would make sense only if it had the possibility to influence the decision-making process.

"Russia's participation in PACE is justified if it is possible to influence the results of voting and decision-making. Passive presence is meaningless," Pushkov wrote on Twitter.

Участие России в ПАСЕ оправдано, если есть возможность влиять на рез-ты голосования и выработку решений. Пассивное присутствие лишено смысла

— Алексей Пушков (@Alexey_Pushkov) January 18, 2016

​A PACE resolution in April 2014 deprived the Russian delegation of its voting rights, following Crimea’s reunification with Russia. Russian lawmakers were barred from participating in PACE's three key bodies — its bureau, its presidential committee and the standing committee.

The 2014 resolution curbing Russia’s rights in PACE was renewed in April 2015, whereas a reconfirmation of the delegation's credentials was slated for the winter session.