"The conflicts in Syria and Ukraine show that it is not in our interest to exclude Russia from a close negotiation format of the world's biggest economies… If there is at last substantial progress in eastern Ukraine or in the talks on ceasefire in Syria, G7 partners will be ready to discuss this question with Moscow," Frank-Walter Steinmeier told RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland news outlet.
He added that return to G8 the format depends on Russia.
The G7, consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States, was joined by Russia in 1998.
In 2014, the Group of Eight members refused to come to Russian city of Sochi, venue of G8 regular summit, citing disagreements over the Ukrainian crisis and have been meeting in seven-state format since then.
