Ukrainian Ambassador to the Council of Europe: Some in PACE want to allow Russia back
In an interview with Europeyska Pravda, Dmytro Kuleba, the representative of Ukraine to the Council of Europe, said that there is "a group of people who want to bring Russia back to the [Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe] chamber at any cost."
The diplomat said that "very difficult and very unconstructive processes are happening in the PACE.” He also emphasized that "Their goal is to return the Russian delegation to the PACE conference hall without its fulfillment of conditions of the resolution that was adopted by the very same Assembly."
Kuleba went on to detail the thorny aspects of the issue. "Do they have enough votes to do it? That is another question. And autumn is going to be very hot in this respect. We are not talking about the Russians’ return in October; but it is the October session of the Assembly that will demonstrate how real the chances of Russians’ return to PACE in January 2017 are."
According to the Ambassador, during the autumn session, backroom work will be carried out. "We need to work very seriously with the national delegations, with each deputy. Eventually, it is a political body, where each deputy has a right to stand up for their own attitude, so it is important to explain to everyone why it is unacceptable and what negative effects this will have," Kuleba said.
He claims that "the advocates of Russia’s return are already engaged in it." Furthermore, Kuleba explained that "the desire to return Russia has already captivated the thoughts and hearts of a number of influential people in the Assembly, and President of the PACE personally has repeatedly spoken in favor of this."
Kuleba stressed that the Russians’ return to the PACE will be a greater strategic defeat for the Assembly itself than for Ukraine.
Russia was deprived of the right to vote in the PACE in April 2014, immediately after the annexation of the Crimea and the outbreak of hostilities in the Donbas. On January 28, 2015, PACE adopted a resolution that extended the sanctions against Russia and deprived it of the right to vote until April. In protest, the delegation of the Russian Federation said that it was suspending its contacts with PACE until the end of 2015. In January 2016 the Russian Federation refused to apply for confirmation of powers for this year.