MOSCOW, August 30. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has discussed the prospects of the Russian delegation’s work at the Council of Europe with its Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland during a phone call on Friday, the Russian Foreign Ministry informed.

"The sides have discussed the prospects of cooperation between Russia and the Council of Europe after the recovery of the full mandate of Russia’s Federation Council within its Parliamentary Assembly and the full payment of its dues for the years 2017-2018 to the organization’s budget, as well as the ways to strengthen the Council of Europe’s role in the formation of a united humanitarian space from Lisbon to Vladivostok," the ministry informed.

On Thursday, Russian PM Dmitry Medvedev signed a directive on Russia’s payment of Council of Europe fees for 2017-2018. The head of government agreed to the offer by the Russian Foreign Ministry to pay off the debt to the Council of Europe from the federal budget to the tune of 54.6 mln euro.

The Russian delegation to PACE was stripped of the rights to vote, take part in monitoring missions and be elected to PACE steering bodies in April 2014 following the developments in Ukraine and Crimea’s reunification with Russia. In response, the Russian delegation refused to take part in the assembly’s work. It did not apply for confirmation of its mandate in 2016-2018 and froze the payment of contributions to the Council of Europe in 2017.

On June 26, 2019, the PACE session passed a resolution fully reinstating the Russian delegation and confirming its rights. On July 2, Moscow paid its dues to the Council of Europe’s budget for 2019.