STRASBOURG (Sputnik) – The recently elected Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) President Pedro Argamunt on Friday confirmed receiving an invitation to take part in an Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of member states of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in Russia.
Speaker of the upper house of Russian parliament Valentina Matvienko said earlier in the day that Argamunt "spoke favorably" of Russia’s invitation to take part in the May 19-20 spring session of the Assembly, to be held in St. Petersburg.
A PACE resolution in April 2014 deprived the Russian delegation of its voting rights, after Crimea became a part of Russia. Russian lawmakers were barred from participating in PACE's three key bodies — its bureau, presidential committee and standing committee.
The Russian delegation said it would not be submitting its credentials on time for the opening of the winter session. It has stated that it would pay its CoE contribution for this year in full, with a third to be transferred this month.
