Russia to Skip PACE Sessions Until Regarded as Equal – Senior Lawmaker

Moscow will abstain from participating in upcoming Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) sessions until the organization accepts Russia on an equal footing, a senior Russian lawmaker said.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — In late January, Russian delegation to PACE stated that Russia would not be submitting its credentials in time for the opening of the winter PACE session.

"We will skip sessions as long as we are not sure that we are accepted as an equal," Konstantin Kosachev, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the upper house of the Russian parliament, told RIA Novosti in an interview on the anniversary of Russia's 20-year PACE membership.

Russia has repeatedly stressed that its delegation will not return to PACE as long as the April 2014 resolution imposing sanctions on the Moscow delegation following Crimea’s reunification with Russia remains in force. Under the resolution, Russian lawmakers were barred from participating in PACE's three key bodies — its bureau, presidential committee and standing committee.

The Russian politician added that PACE was provoking a conflict with Russia, but it was necessary "not to dramatize what is happening."

The resolution curbing Russia’s rights in PACE was renewed in April 2015, while the reconfirmation of the delegation's credentials was scheduled to take place during the winter session in January.