Russia May Return to PACE in Fall – Senior Lawmaker

There is a slim chance that Russia will return to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in October, the head of the foreign affairs committee in the lower house of the Russian parliament said Friday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russia has stayed out of PACE meetings after the Assembly revoked its voting rights following a row over Crimea in April 2014.

"There is a theoretical possibility that we may return to PACE in October 2016," State Duma’s Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Alexei Pushkov told reporters at a press briefing.

He added that Russian lawmakers could claim their PACE rights back straight after Duma elections on September 18.

But time will be short before PACE convenes for the fall session in October, making Russia’s return to the European legislative body very unlikely. The next possible deadline for its return will be in January 2017, Pushkov said.

The April 2014 PACE resolution stripped Russian delegates of their voting rights and barred them from participating in PACE's three key bodies – the bureau, the presidential committee and the standing committee. The decision was renewed in April 2015, with a reconfirmation of Russian delegation's credentials slated for the winter session.

Russia plans to raise the issue of sanctions imposed on its lawmakers at PACE during the parliamentary assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), according to Pushkov.

The OSCE PA 2016 Annual Session, which is expected to draw hundreds of parliamentarians from the 57 OSCE participating nations, will be held on July 1-5 in Tbilisi, Georgia.