The leadership of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) held a meeting with representatives of the so-called Russian democratic forces.

 This is stated in the message of the Council of Europe.

 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 "intensification of dialogue and study of ways of cooperation" with PACE in the future.

 It is noted that the meeting was a practical continuation of several PACE resolutions, in which it repeatedly called "to develop interaction with Russian civil society, human rights defenders, independent journalists, academic circles and democratic forces."

 At the same time, the Council of Europe emphasized that the representatives of the Russian Federation, with whom the interaction takes place, should respect the values ​​and principles of the organization, including the territorial integrity of Ukraine.

 The meeting participants agreed to continue this dialogue.

 From the Russian side, the meeting was attended by the president of the Free Russia Foundation Natalia Arno, Dmytro Gudkov ("Russian Anti-War Committee" / "Russian Action Committee"), Gennadiy Gudkov (Civil Movement "For a Free Russia"), Sergey Guriyev, ("Russian Anti-War Committee " / Project "Real Russia" / Anti-Corruption Fund), Evgenia Kara-Murza ("Free Russia" Foundation), Gari Kasparov ("Free Russia Forum" / "Russian Action Committee" / "Russian Anti-War Committee"), Mykhailo Khodorkovsky ( "Russian Anti-War Committee" / "Russian Action Committee").

 We will remind you that the MEP and ex-Prime Minister of Lithuania Andryus Kubilius believes that in order to help the citizens of Russia to free themselves from imperial nostalgia, it is necessary to accept Ukraine into NATO.

 "We need to talk about the perspective of a democratic Russia in order to help Ukraine become a member of NATO. Because in some Western capitals there is no faith in democracy in Russia either, - Kubilyus noted. - Therefore, when we start talking about a complete military victory for Ukraine, they are afraid that such a victory would lead to the collapse of Russia and chaos, with the loss of control over nuclear weapons."