The United Russia party in Russia’s State Duma has put forward Deputy Speaker Pyotr Tolstoy to head Russia’s delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).
"Most likely, the delegation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation to PACE will be headed by Tolstoy,” a spokesperson for the United Russia party told the Interfax news agency.
Pyotr Tolstoy is great-great-grandson of the iconic Russia author Leo Tolstoy.
The delegation is slated to include Education Committee Head Vyacheslav Nikonov and famous athletes Svetlana Zhurova and Vyacheslav Fetisov.
Ildar Gilmutdinov, head of the Committee for Nationalities, is also believed to be part of PACE delegation alongside deputies Yevgeny Revenko, Elena Yampolsky, Sergei Zheleznyak, Alena Arshinova, Otari Arshba and Alexander Sidyakin.
If the delegation is headed by Tolstoy, it will break from Duma tradition. The head of the Duma Committee on International Affairs typically leads Russia’s PACE delegation.
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