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Ukraine may refuse to work at PACE if Russia’s powers are restored

The Russian delegation at PACE was stripped of its main powers, including the right to vote and participate in the assembly’s governing bodies over the conflict in Ukraine

© Mikhail Dzhaparidze/TASS

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Russian delegation may restore its rights at PACE — deputy

KIEV, September 12 /TASS/. Ukraine may end its work at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) if it decides to restore the Russian delegation’s powers, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Pavel Klimkin said in an interview with Ukraine’s TV channel ICTV on Monday.

"If the Russian delegation’s powers, for example at PACE, are considered to be positive, we will consider various options - even not to take part in PACE," the foreign minister said.

The Russian delegation at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) was stripped of its main powers, including the right to vote and participate in the assembly’s governing bodies and its commissions for monitoring the elections in the Council of Europe space over the conflict in Ukraine and Crimea’s reunification with Russia.

In return, Russia suspended its participation at PACE until the end of 2015. Early in 2016, Moscow refused to apply for participation in the PACE January session, which is supposed to confirm the Russian delegation’s powers for the whole year.

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