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Russian delegation to take part in session of Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum in Canada

© ITAR-TASS/Alexey Filippov

MOSCOW, January 15. /TASS/. A Russian parliamentary delegation will take part in the 24th session of the Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum due to take place in Canada’s Vancouver on January 17 through 22, Konstantin Kosachev, the chairman of the international committee of Russia’s Federation Council upper parliament house, said on Friday.

"On Sunday, [January 17], a representative parliamentary delegation comprising members of both houses of the parliament will leave for Canada’s Vancouver to take part in a session of the Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum," he wrote in his blog on the official website of the upper parliament house.

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Russian lawmakers have been regularly taking part in the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum since 1995. Russia hosted its sessions in 2007 and 2013. "So, our participation in this major regional forum is considerable and weighty," Kosachev noted, adding that this year the Russian delegation "is flying to Canada not empty-handed." In his words, the Russian delegation has submitted a number of resolutions.

Thus, one of these resolutions calls to refrain from the "use of personal sanctions against lawmakers from the member countries that hamper comprehensive dialogue and cooperation within multilateral formats." "We consider such actions taken in the recent time by a number of European countries and the United States not just wrong but running counter the very spirit of parliamentarianism, since they are used not against government officials but against lawmakers who represent their voters," Kosachev stressed.

Another document, in his words, is dedicated to the problems of politics and security in the region. "The document says that the architecture of security and cooperation in the Asia-Pacific should be based on the principles of the supremacy of international law, indivisibility of security, commitment to peace settlement of disputes, non-use of force or a threat of force," he said.

Another draft resolution, on anti-terror efforts, "calls on all member countries to implement the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy and corresponding Security Council resolutions aimed at fighting international terrorism, to spare no effort to agree the text of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism, to work towards the establishment of a broad coalition of states denouncing terrorism and radical extremism and ready to make a contribution to the defeat of this evil," Kosachev said.

Yet another resolution, according to the Russian lawmaker, is geared towards reiteration of the importance and the supremacy of a universal, law-ruled, transparent, non-discriminatory, open and fair multilateral trade system based on the principles of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

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