PACE Chief To Discuss Worsening Bilateral Ties With Russian Speaker

PACE Chief to Discuss Worsening Bilateral Ties With Russian Speaker

ST PETERSBURG (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th September, 2018) The president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) said Wednesday she would bring up ties with Russia at a meeting with a senior Russian lawmaker this week.

Liliane Maury Pasquier will address the Eurasian Women's Forum in St. Petersburg on Thursday. Russian upper house speaker Valentina Matvienko said full-fledged bilateral talks were also planned.

Asked if they would discuss the deepening crisis in the PACE-Russian relationship after Russia was stripped of voting rights in PACE governing bodies in 2014, Pasquier told reporters, "We will."

The president of the 47-nation organization said a dialogue could help iron out differences. Tensions between PACE and Russia rose in April after Council of Europe's Thorbjorn Jagland threatened Moscow with sanctions over its decision to suspend funding for the organization.