In March 2022, following the escalation of the Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine into a large scale war of aggression, the Parliamentary Assembly played a crucial role in ensuring that the Russian Federation be expelled from the Council of Europe, by unanimously adopting Opinion 300 (2022).
In this opinion, the Assembly recommended that “the Council of Europe should envisage initiatives to be able to continue to support and engage with human rights defenders, democratic forces, free media and independent civil society in the Russian Federation”. The Assembly reiterated and further developed this recommendation in successive Resolutions, including 2433 (2022), 2473 (2022) and 2540 (2024).
On the strengths of these resolutions, the Assembly has taken a number of steps to establish contacts with Russian democratic forces, by setting up a Contact Platform for dialogue with Russian democratic forces, and appointing a general rapporteur on Russian democratic forces.
Russian democratic forces that share the values of the Council of Europe, recognise the importance of preserving the rules-based international order, respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine in its internationally-recognised borders, and actively oppose Putin’s regime with a view to establishing democracy in the Russian Federation are key actors to ensure that the future Russian Federation is a peaceful and democratic country, which poses no threats to its neighbours and citizens.
The Assembly should support Russian democratic forces in their efforts to elaborate a common vision and strategy for the future of the Russian Federation. It should also consider establishing structured channels of dialogue with Russian democratic forces and raise awareness of their needs and concerns with national parliaments.