Alexei Pushkov, the head of the foreign affairs committee of the lower house of the Russian parliament, told RIA Novosti in an interview that "our return to the sessions is [currently] out of the question."
The 2014 resolution curbing Russia’s rights in PACE was prolonged in April 2015, while the reconfirmation of the delegation's credentials was scheduled to take place at the winter session. The Russian delegation said it would not be submitting its credentials on time for the opening of the winter session.
"The PACE had already made a decision, about which we were officially informed, that is the fact that we had not requested credentials for the PACE January session means we will be absent [from the body] until the end of the year," Pushkov explained.
The lawmaker added that the delegation might submit its credentials after Russia's general election in September, adding that it might participate in the PACE session in January 2017.
Following the Russian delegation's decision to withdraw its credentials, then PACE President Anne Brasseur said that it means that it would be unable to participate in the Assembly’s activities throughout 2016 or at least until the next parliamentary elections in the country.
