The “Platform for Dialogue between the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the Russian Democratic Forces in Exile” has been brought about as a space in which members “would be able to hold two-way exchanges with the Assembly on issues of common concern and would also be able to attend meetings of selected committees during part-sessions”. This has been announced earlier today in a statement by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) that unanimously approved a resolution giving the green lights to such platform. The composition of the platform is still to be defined but it will include “persons of the highest moral standing” who live in exile and will have to meet some criteria, such as sharing Council of Europe values, unconditionally recognising Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, and working towards “regime change” in Russia. The goal, by opening such platform, is to strengthen the capacity of Russian democratic forces to “bring about sustainable democratic change in Russia and help achieve a lasting and just peace in Ukraine, alongside ensuring the responsibility of Russian actors for the international crimes committed”. Presently, Russian democratic forces do not have a single, unified political structure, unlike Belarusian ones.