ID :
355740
Fri, 01/30/2015 - 09:39
Auther :

PACE’s decision to extend sanctions on Russian delegation impedes political settlement in Ukraine

BRUSSELS, January 29 /TASS/. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe /PACE/ made a political settlement in Ukraine more difficult by decision to extend its sanctions on the Russian delegation, Vladimir Chizhov, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the European Union, said in Brussels on Thursday. On January 28, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe /PACE/ decided to extend the sanctions imposed on the Russian delegation last spring and deprive it of its right to vote and participate in the PACE leading bodies until April 2015. Asked to comment whether PACE had impeded the achievement of a political settlement in Ukraine, Chizhov answered: "Yes." He added the decision was unlikely to make a more constructive contribution, of the Council of Europe in this case, to settling the Ukraine crisis. "PACE has missed a chance to return the parliamentary dialogue with Russia on a path of normal interaction. It is regretful and damaging not so much to the Russian delegation or the Russian parliament but to the Parliamentary Assembly, which will be deprived until year’s end of an opportunity to hear the Russian point of view and search for a joint solution to problems on the agenda," the Russian diplomat said. Chizhov said that PACE was just one of the three main components of the Council of Europe. "Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders, the head of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, confirmed that the Committee would continue its work and interaction with Russian colleagues in the normal regime," Chizhov stressed. Read more

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