PACE Considers Returning Russia to Parliamentary Assembly: House Speaker

Speaker of Russian Duma S. Naryshkin and Ann Brasser, Assembly Rep.Russian delegates and their colleagues from the Parliamentary Assembly have expressed their desire to cooperate with Russia as a full member of the organization, the speaker of Russia’s lower house of parliament, Sergei Naryshkin, said Thursday, sputniknews.com reports.

The leadership of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and Russian delegates have expressed their desire to return Russia’s status as a full member of the organization, the speaker of Russia's lower house of parliament, Sergei Naryshkin, said Thursday.

"Aspirations for the Russian delegation to work at its full volume in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, so that it has all of its authority and especially its authority to vote, were heard by both sides today," Naryshkin said after a meeting with a PACE committee in Moscow.

In April, PACE suspended Russia's voting rights over the country's reunification with Crimea. In protest at the expulsion, Russia's delegation walked out of the assembly's spring session.

Later, Moscow officially informed PACE of its decision to halt bilateral cooperation and skip its summer session.

PACE is one of the main bodies of the Council of Europe comprising 318 parliamentarians from the 47 member states of the Council of Europe. PACE holds sessions four times a year and focuses on promoting human rights and democracy as common values of the European nations.