MOSCOW. April 11 (Interfax) - Contacts between the leadership of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and Russian MPs may be put on hold after PACE voted in favor of suspending the Russian delegation's voting rights and removing Russian representatives from the assembly's governing bodies until the end of 2014, the chairman of the State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee, Alexei Pushkov, said.
"Following such steps, it is impossible to speak about PACE's further work such as its monitoring of the Russian Federation and its rapporteurs' visits to our country. Contacts between the PACE leadership and representatives of the Russian parliament are most likely to be put on hold," Pushkov said in an interview published in Russia's newspaper Izvestia on Friday.
"I do not think that our work at PACE is possible at the moment. Russians previously were engaged in the work of its governing bodies - the PACE Bureau, its Standing Committee and Presidential Committee. In addition to that, we participated in its [election] observer missions. What we are being offered today is unworthy of Russia, a great power and a UN Security Council permanent member, which has been playing a significant role in determining the configuration of decisions concerning global events. That is why Russia should not be satisfied with the role of "film extras" devoid of any voting rights," he said.
The suspension of Russia's work at PACE will not impact the country's relations with other European organizations in any way, he said.
"It does not concern the Council of Europe in terms of cooperation between the governments either. There is not a single country that wants Russia to be excluded from the Council of Europe. But a special situation was created around the Parliamentary Assembly. It will become clear later when and on what terms we will return there," the Russian MP said.
On April 10, PACE voted in favor of suspending the Russian delegation's voting rights until the end of the year and imposing further sanctions on Russia. However, the assembly rejected a proposal to suspend the Russian delegation's powers for this period in response to Crimea's accession to Russia.
The Russian delegation to PACE said it was leaving the assembly's session immediately, and added that it would retain the right to consider the issue of its further participation in the assembly's work.