STRASBOURG, June 25. /TASS/. Participants in the summer session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on Tuesday challenged the powers of the Russian delegation in the organization.

In order to challenge powers, according to the rules of the organization, the support of 30 parliamentarians from five countries is needed. During the consideration of the powers of the Russian delegation in PACE, several participants in the session challenged them.

Now, according to the rules of the organization, there will be a report on the restriction of powers, the vote on which will take place in the near future. If the report is adopted, the powers will be limited, if not - the Russian delegation will retain its rights in full.

State Duma Deputy Speaker Pyotr Tolstoi said earlier that the Ukrainian delegation’s pullout from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe will be regrettable, but at the same time it will be Ukraine’s sovereign choice, the chief Russian delegate.

"Of course, we will be missing our Ukrainian friends, who ‘have done so much’ for the return of the Russian delegation. We will regret it a lot. But it will be a decision of the Ukrainian delegation," Tolstoi said. "But I would not advise anybody to call for ‘Europeanism’, on the one hand, and to discontinue the dialogue, on the other."