MOSCOW, July 26. /TASS/. Speaker of the Russian Federation Council (upper house) Valentina Matviyenko lauded the productive work of the senators in international affairs in a statement closing the spring session of the upper chamber. At the same time, she urged not to let the guard down following the Russian delegation’s return to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), as the external pressure on Russia is still in place.

"The consistent and principled position of the Federation Council made it possible to resolve the crisis in the Council of Europe. The Russian parliamentary delegation has returned to Strasbourg without any restrictions or concessions. We are poised to work constructively. This is good news, but we should not let our guard down in any case, the external pressure exerted on our country is still in place," the official said.

According to her, the senators’ international parliamentary activity "has been quite productive, as always." Among the numerous achievements, she highlighted the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s decision to hold an International Conference on Inter-Ethnic and Inter-Religious Dialogue in Russia on May 21, 2022. "At my recent meeting with him, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described the upcoming conference as a priority project for the UN," the speaker pointed out.

She also underlined that the senators’ efforts were rewarded when the Inter-Parliamentary Union supported Russia’s principled position that sanctions against parliamentarians are unacceptable.

Matviyenko also recalled that the traditionally vigorous activity was conducted in the framework of bilateral international contacts. Particularly, senators welcomed almost 60 foreign delegations in the course of the session. The senators, in turn, paid reciprocal visits and actively represented the Federation Council at international parliamentary forums. Heads of foreign parliaments took to the council’s podium six times.