PACE President Says Date, Venue Not Set for Bilateral Meeting With Russian Officials

STRASBOURG, Daria Chernyshova - The president of PACE Anne Brasseur said Monday that neither the date, nor the venue for her second meeting with the speaker of Russia's lower house of parliament Sergei Naryshkin has been set yet.

"For the moment, there is no date or venue for the second meeting with Naryshkin," Brasseur said at an opening press conference of PACE's autumn session in Strasbourg.

Brasseur also stressed the importance of maintaining dialogue, despite the suspension Russia's voting rights in PACE and added that she had met with Naryshkin on September 2 in Paris.

"Dialogue is paramount," Brasseur said. "We feel that dialogue should be maintained."

In April, PACE suspended Russia's voting rights over its reunification with Crimea. During the vote on the country's expulsion, Russian delegation walked out of the PACE spring session in protest.

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

PACE autumn session is underway in Strasbourg and will end on October 3.