The leadership of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has held an exchange of views with representatives of Russian democratic forces.

As the Council of Europe reports, the meeting took place in Paris on March 20. The Council of Europe noted that there was an exchange of views with representatives of the Russian democratic forces. The purpose of the meeting is "to step up dialogue and to explore ways of co-operating" with PACE in the future.

The meeting was a practical follow-up to several PACE resolutions, in which it repeatedly called for "developing its engagement with Russian civil society, human rights defenders, independent journalists, academia and democratic forces respecting the values and principles of the Organisation, including the territorial integrity of Ukraine."

The participants agreed to pursue this dialogue.

The Russian side was represented by Natalia Arno, the president of the Free Russia Foundation, Dmitiy Gudkov (Russian Anti-War Committee), Gennady Gudkov (Public movement "For a free Russia"), Sergei Guriev, (Russian Anti-War Committee/ True Russia project/ Anti-corruption Foundation), Evgenia Kara-Murza (Free Russia Foundation), Garry Kasparov (Free Russia Forum/ Russian Action Comittee/ Russian Anti-War Committee), Mikhail Khodorkovsky (Russian Anti-War Committee/ Russian Action Committee).