OSCE will try to exclude Russia from parliamentary assembly: Lawmaker
Although Western countries are doing the maximum to isolate Moscow, Russian lawmaker Sergei Tsekov argues OSCE will not be able to exclude Russia from the Parliamentary Assembly.
Russian lawmaker Sergei Tsekov said, according to Sputnik, that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) will not be able to exclude Russia from the Parliamentary Assembly, but Western countries and Ukraine will continue to attempt.
According to the Ukrainian news agency UNIAN, a member of the Ukrainian delegation, Yevheniia Kravchuk, said that Kiev has chosen to boycott the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly until it excludes Moscow.
"They do not have capacities to exclude Russia, but they will look for them," Tsekov said.
Ukraine is attempting to exert pressure on the European Union in this area, according to the MP, who added that Kiev's ideas regarding Moscow "have always been hostile."
He also charged Ukraine's political establishment with undermining international platforms.
Earlier in November, Vladimir Dzhabarov, deputy leader of the Russian delegation to the OSCE, stated that Russian parliamentarians had been denied visas to attend the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's fall session in Warsaw from November 24-26.
The Polish Foreign Ministry later confirmed the information. Meanwhile, Nat Parry, the head of the OSCE Communications and Press Office, said as quoted by RIA Novosti that the decision to invite the Russian delegation, whose members are sanctioned by the EU, was made at the national level by Polish authorities.
After February 24, Western countries exerted strained efforts to isolate Russia. They launched a comprehensive sanctions campaign against Moscow and pressured the international community to bar Russian officials and nationals from participating in various events.