Moscow intends to maintain its membership in the CE. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov told about this in a telephone conversation with the Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjorn Jagland.. Negotiations were held on the eve. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation did not disclose the details, limiting itself to the remark that the parties had discussed the "crisis situation" in the organization. However, the spokesman for Jagland, Daniel Holtgen, said that the Russian diplomat called the condition for our country’s withdrawal from the organization. "I confirm that Lavrov called Jagland yesterday to exchange views on the current situation in the Council of Europe. Lavrov assured Jagland that Russia wants to remain in the Council of Europe and will leave only if other member states take measures to exclude it, ”RIA Novosti quoted the representative of the Council of Europe Secretary General.. Perhaps, the question of the future stay of the Russian Federation in the organization will be discussed at the meeting of Thorbjorn Jagland with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, which will be held next week in Berlin. Despite the constructive position of the European side, relations between Russia and the Council of Europe remain tense.. In connection with the events in Ukraine, the Russian delegation in April 2014. deprived of the right to vote at meetings of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. In 2015. sanctions have been tightened. Our country refused to cooperate with the organization on such terms. In subsequent years, Moscow did not send an application to confirm its authority because of the anti-Russian sentiments that remain in Strasbourg.. In the summer of 2017. Russia refused to pay membership fees to the Council of Europe due to the non-participation of our delegation in the meetings of the Parliamentary Assembly. In early October, the leadership of the organization reported that, in accordance with its charter, a country that does not pay contributions for two years can be excluded from the organization by decision of the committee of ministers - the statutory body of the Council of Europe. At the end of October, State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said that until PACE changes the statute of the discrediting nature in relation to any national delegation, Russia does not consider it possible to take part in its work.. At the same time, the head of the international committee of the Federation Council, Konstantin Kosachev, called on the head of the Parliamentary Assembly, Wojciech Sawicki, to make every effort to bring the body’s regulations in line with the Council of Europe’s charter guaranteeing equal rights for all states.