Paris - President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Anne Brasseur has said that the PACE and Russia differ in their positions over the situation in Ukraine.
“Our positions on the assessment of what is going on are by and large
divided, and I would like to stress that,” Brasseur told reporters
after a meeting of the PACE Presidential Committee, which was attended
by State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin.
The hostilities in Ukraine have already claimed the lives of 2,600 people, she said.
Brasseur said that CoE Secretary-General Thorbjorn Jagland had
suggested setting up a group that would investigate all acts of violence
during the Ukrainian events, starting from what happened in Maidan and
covering other episodes.
Brasseur thanked Naryshkin, as well as Chairman of the Committee of
International Affairs Alexey Pushkov and Chairman of the Committee for
CIS Affairs Leonid Slutsky, for attending the meeting of the PACE
Presidential Committee.
“We have agreed to continue our joint work. We will gladly welcome
the Russian delegation within commissions, we hail the continued work of
the Russian delegation within commissions, because the Russian
delegation was stripped of its voting right but not of its power to work
in the Assembly’s bodies,” Brasseur said.
Only by working together can we find solutions even amidst our differences, she said.
She disagreed with Naryshkin’s opinion that stripping the Russian
delegation of a whole host of powers was undemocratic. She said
everything was done in accordance with the regulations; the decision had
been made by a majority vote.
