15/12/2017 President
Following a meeting of the Presidential Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) with members of the Russian Parliament in Paris on 14 December 2017, PACE President Stella Kyriakides reported that discussions had been “open and honest and therefore a step in the right direction.”
She went on to say that, “this was our first meeting with Russian parliamentarians since March 2017, and although there remains a gulf between us on significant political issues, we could agree on the need to keep discussions moving forward, in particular in the context of Resolution 2186 (2017) of the Parliamentary Assembly on a Call for a Council of Europe Summit to reaffirm European unity and to defend and promote democratic security in Europe. “For this important issue,” she said, “it is essential that we involve parliamentarians from all member States of the Council of Europe.”
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Present at the meeting were members of the Presidential Committee (made up of the President of the Parliamentary Assembly, leaders of five of the political groups of the Assembly and the Secretary General of the Assembly) and five representatives of the Russian Parliament from the State Duma and the Federation Council.