Batkivschyna Party leader Yulia Tymoshenko has asked President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Anne Brasseur to help in freeing Ukrainian pilot Nadia Savchenko, who is held in custody in Russia.

Tymoshenko made this request to Brasseur during their meeting in Strasbourg on Monday. The Batkivschyna leader handed the PACE president the materials about the pilot's case.

In turn, Brasseur said that PACE planned to use all its leverage to resolve the situation, and is considering sending a mission to observe her court hearing on October 13. The sides agreed to stay in touch on this issue.

The president of PACE said that the decision by Batkivschyna to make Nadia Savchenko number one on their party list in the October 26 parliamentary elections is very important support for Nadia.

During the meeting Tymoshenko drew attention of her counterpart to the fact that Ukrainian territory is constantly being shelled by Russian troops, despite the alleged truce. In light of this, the parties discussed the possibility of stripping Russia of its membership in the Council of Europe if Russia further escalates the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Brasseur said that PACE was closely monitoring the situation and stressed that Russia needed to "build real peace, not create the illusion of it."

Tymoshenko and Brasseur stressed the importance of joining efforts both inside and outside Ukraine to stop Russian aggression.