OREANDA-NEWS. Russia is returning to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. After voting in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), on the night of June 24 to 25, participation in its work by State Duma deputies and members of the Council of Federation will almost certainly resume. Now, even if their powers are not challenged, any new restrictions will only be cosmetic, the Moscow-Strasbourg conflict will be settled, contributions to the organization’s budget will be paid, the threat of withdrawal from the Council of Europe proclaimed by Russia will be removed.

The main problem in relations between Russia and the Council of Europe was the annexation of the Crimea and the support of the separatists in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions of Ukraine. Such actions did not fit into the provisions of the Statute of the Council of Europe, and PACE applied one of the few available sanctions to the Russian delegation - deprivation of the right to vote (this did not happen for the first time: the same happened during the conflict in Chechnya in the early 2000s). In response, the Russian deputies decided to abandon any work in Strasbourg, and after the elections to the Duma in 2016, the new delegation was not appointed at all. No delegation - no sanctions. But now problems can be solved.