Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Dmytro Razumkov has discussed with President of the Storting (Parliament) of Norway Tone Wilhelmsen Trøen the issue of Russia's return to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).

The Verkhovna Rada press service reported that Razumkov had expressed Ukraine's position regarding the return of the Russian delegation to PACE. "This is an unfortunate situation, because the Russian Federation has not implemented any of the organization's resolutions regarding Russian aggressive policy towards Ukraine. It is important for us to be part of Europe and part of the Council of Europe, but first of all we must defend national interests," he emphasized.

Razumkov also expressed hope that in the near future there will be prerequisites that will allow the delegation of the Ukrainian parliament to again fully participate in the work of the Council of Europe.

"We hope for a constant position of the Council of Europe in the fundamental bases that were laid at the beginning of the creation of this organization," the Verkhovna Rada Chairman noted.

As reported, the Ukrainian delegation decided not to submit its credentials for approval during the autumn part of the PACE session from September 30 to October 4, 2019. "The above mentioned will be a way of Ukraine's response to the return of the Russian Federation to the PACE session hall without meeting the requirements of Assembly resolutions adopted in response to Russian aggression against Ukraine," the delegation said.