"He [Agramunt] confirmed that, first of all, there were major changes in the leadership of the political groups. At the moment, the leaders of all political groups [in PACE] support return [of Russia]," Pushkov noted.
According to Pushkov, the PACE president stressed that the positions of the leading states in the organization, including Germany and France, had evolved as majority of the delegates believed that conflict between Russia and the European Union needed to be settled.
Russia left PACE in 2015 after the Assembly adopted several resolutions condemning Crimea's reunification with Russia as well as alleged Russia interference in the conflict in eastern Ukraine. PACE also imposed sanctions on the Russian delegation, barring Russian lawmakers from participating in PACE's three key bodies — its bureau, presidential committee and standing committee.
