The decision to return Russia to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe was adopted long ago. According to President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, it became clear during his recent visits to Germany, France and Brussels.
"Every day I had seven meetings, in addition to negotiations with Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron. Every person I met told me that PACE was a platform for negotiations. Everyone with whom I discussed this issue knew the answer 100%. Hence, the decision was made a long time ago," the Head of State stressed during a briefing on June 27.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized that he had initiated the discussion of that issue during his foreign visits and denied the accusations of certain people’s deputies of the lack of efforts on his part to prevent Russia's return to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
“I did my best. If our distinguished people's deputies ask what I did, I can ask them: what did they do to prevent this from happening?" the President noted.