MOSCOW, June 18 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s status in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) could change in January 2015 after its voting rights are reinstated, a senior Russian lawmaker and head of the PACE delegation told reporters Wednesday.
Alexei Pushkov, who also chairs a State Duma Committee on Foreign Affairs in the lower house of the Russian parliament, told journalists at a press conference in Moscow that Russia had never completely severed its ties with the European Council’s advisory body.
Pushkov said he had recently discussed “the possibility of a meeting in a European capital” with PACE President Anne Brasseur and State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin. He didn’t disclose what city it could be.
“[We] don’t deny having contacts with faction leaders, as well as with the PACE chairperson, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that Russia is considering a comeback,” the lawmaker added.
On June 3, Moscow officially informed PACE about its decision to halt bilateral cooperation and skip the summer session after the Assembly moved in April to strip the Russian delegation of some of its voting rights over the situation in Crimea. During the vote on Russia's expulsion, itsdelegation walked out of the PACE spring session in protest.
Alexei Pushkov called the entire debate on Russia’s credentials a political farce and stated that Russia would not rush to reconsider its foreign policy and principles.
