MOSCOW, July 9 (RIA Novosti) - Moscow is confused over an initiative by some PACE members to try and deny Russia the right to vote during assembly sessions, a spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.

The comments by Russia followed an attempt in late June by Georgia's delegation to get members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) to sign a petition, depriving Russia of its vote at the assembly.

"We have been surprised recently by the ease in which PACE parliamentarians are ready to look at depriving delegations of their voting rights, first Armenia, then Ukraine, or Russia. You must agree that this is not a serious route," Andrei Nesterenko said.

The high-ranking Russian diplomat said "excluding a side from dialogue because of a difference of opinion on an issue does not strengthen mutual understanding."

Georgia has been repeatedly seeking to deprive Russia of its PACE vote since last August, when both countries were involved in a brief war over former Georgian republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which Russia recognized as independent.

Russia launched its five-day military operation to "force Georgia to accept peace" after Georgian troops attacked South Ossetia on August 8, killing a number of Russian peacekeepers and hundreds of civilians.