Russian senators approved a statement accusing Ukraine
The Federation Council of the Russian Federation today unanimously adopted a statement stating that Russia will not submit an application for the participation of its delegation in the work of the next session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), which will begin on January 21-25, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
Chairman of the Committee on International Affairs Konstantin Kosachev emphasized that such an “odious repressive measure” that PACE applied to Russia is not in the procedures of any international parliamentary organization.
“In the Inter-Parliamentary Union, even the attempts of the Ukrainians and their patrons from the European Union to put the Russian topic on the agenda failed miserably. They are not in the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, where we, often disagreeing, have the opportunity to defend our point of view on equal terms. There is no trace of them in the European Parliament, some countries of which inspire anti-Russian hysteria in PACE,” Kosachev said.
Senator Igor Chernyshenko, who was a member of the Russian delegation to PACE for many years, believes that anti-Russian sentiment in this body is being fueled by a small group of deputies.
“I can confirm that in certain difficult international situations, Russophobic sentiments prevail there under the influence of a small group of loud parliamentarians from the Baltic countries, Georgia, and Ukraine. The majority of parliamentarians take a passive position. This became especially aggravated during the period of Ukrainian positions,” Chernyshenko said.
Senator Alexei Pushkov emphasized that the crisis in PACE goes back to 2014-2015. He believes that the correctness of the decision of the Russian delegation to refuse to participate in the meetings in protest against the sanctions was confirmed by further developments.
“It is unbecoming for a great power, a member of the UN Security Council, to remain in an organization that not only deprives it of the right to vote, but also of a number of other powers. In this crisis, the Council of Europe loses more than Russia. He risks losing the largest country on the continent and one of the most influential countries in the world. I'm not sure they fully understand this. I think they are hoping to force us to return,” Pushkov said.
Russian senators approved a statement accusing Ukraine.