MOSCOW (Sputnik) – A final decision on the participation of the Russian delegation in the 2017 session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) will be made in December, Leonid Slutsky, Chairman of the Russian State Duma (parliament) International Affairs Committee, said.
"A delegation needs to be formed, and we will solve all the issues on participation or a lack thereof in the 2017 session practically in a week, maximum in two weeks," Slutsky told journalists.
In April 2014, PACE adopted a resolution depriving the Russian delegation of the right to vote and to be represented in the governing structures of PACE for a year. The measure, taken over Crimea's reunification with Russia and the internal Ukrainian crisis, was later prolonged for another year.
In 2016, Russia decided not to send the documents to PACE to confirm the credentials of the delegation.
In October, Slutsky said that Russia could return to PACE in January 2017 if no member states were stripped of voting rights.
