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Russia’s delegation to PACE removes Crimean issue from agenda, says envoy

Deputy Speaker of the State Duma Pyotr Tolstoy noted that "Ukrainian colleagues remain true to their main principle - human rights are nothing, Russophobia is everything"

Deputy Speaker of the State Duma Pyotr Tolstoy Sergey Sevostianov/TASS

Deputy Speaker of the State Duma Pyotr Tolstoy

© Sergey Sevostianov/TASS

MOSCOW, January 24. /TASS/. The Russian delegation managed to remove the issue of human rights in Crimea from the agenda of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Bureau’s meeting, the delegation’s Head, Deputy Speaker of the State Duma (lower house) Pyotr Tolstoy wrote on his Facebook page on Sunday.

"Although the opening of the session will take place on January 25, we have already carried out a considerable effort. In particular, during the PACE Bureau’s meeting, we managed to withdraw from consideration the Crimea issue, which was traditionally initiated by the Ukrainian delegation," according to Tolstoy.

"Debates concerning the hard fate of the "Berlin patient" (Alexey Navalny - TASS), also the Ukrainian side’s initiative, will be held only in the format of discussion, without adopting any resolution," the Russian MP stated.

Tolstoy noted that "Ukrainian colleagues remain true to their main principle - human rights are nothing, Russophobia is everything." "It seems that there are no other problems to discuss on the largest international platform at all. They are echoed by the Baltic states and Poland," he concluded.

The PACE winter session will be held on January 25-28 in a mixed format.

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