MOSCOW (Sputnik) – In April 2014, PACE approved an anti-Russia resolution following Crimea’s reunification with Russia and banned the country’s delegation from voting and participating in the work of PACE’s governing bodies until the end of 2014. In 2015 the sanctions were extended.
"I am afraid to upset President [of PACE Anne Brasseur], but infamous anti-Russian resolution has not disturbed our dialogue with the world, but benefited. Because the number of bilateral and international contracts of the State Duma during that period has only increased," Sergei Naryshkin said in an article published on his website.
He added that PACE’s policy of isolation has failed, and the assembly’s influence was "tending toward zero."
In spring 2014, Naryshkin sent a letter to Brasseur calling on her organization to restore full rights to the Russian delegation. The request was denied. Earlier this year, the president of PACE said the organization would discuss Russia’s restoration of rights in January 2016.
Russia has not taken part in the work of PACE since the sanctions were applied.
