Ukraine suffered a debacle in PACE. All sanctions were lifted from Russia

PACE rejected a proposal by representatives of Ukraine and partner countries to limit Russian delegation’s powers.

96 lawmakers voted in favor of the resolution that confirmed the full powers of the Russian delegation, 44 – against and 7 abstained.

The report on Russia has proved to be extremely loyal to the Kremlin. The document does not mention any violations by Russia. It states that Moscow has shown some progress because it has paid all due contributions to the budget of the Council of Europe and released captive Ukrainian sailors.

Most of the amendments submitted by Ukrainian MPs, including those on limiting Russia’s powers, were rejected during the consideration.

However, the Assembly agreed to add an amendment emphasizing that Crimea is illegally annexed by Russia.

The vote in PACE revealed a clear division between countries: who voted for and against.

The Ukrainian delegation consisted of 12 deputies. 11 of them pressed the button “against” Russia.

Ukraine was supported by all members of the Georgian, Lithuanian, Latvian delegations who took part in the vote, almost all Swedes and all Poles except one abstaining MP, as well as by one Moldovan, one Slovak and one Turkish delegate.

Western Europe representatives almost unanimously supported the Russian Federation. Only two members of delegation from the Netherlands, one from Spain and one from the United Kingdom supported Ukraine.

PACE also approved a new sanction procedure. Under the new rules, in case of “serious violations” a new procedure should be initiated, one of the tasks of which is to declare “sanction avoidance”. It is envisaged that in order to impose any restrictions on a “serious offender” there must be a joint agreement of the three bodies – PACE, the Committee of Ministers and the Secretary General of the Council of Europe.

EMPR