"What is happening in the Parliamentary Assembly is out of our control, but our position is that all Member States, including Russia, must play their part in the work of the Parliamentary Assembly, Russia should be a member, like any other parliamentary delegation," Kasoulides said following the talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
In 2014, PACE adopted a resolution, under which the Russian delegation was deprived of the right to vote and the right to be represented in the governing structures of PACE for a year, a measure later prolonged for another year. Such measures were meant as a mark of the West's disapproval of Crimea's joining Russia, and Moscow's alleged involvement in the Ukraine crisis.
In 2016, Russia decided not to send the documents to PACE confirm the credentials of the delegation.