Kremlin: Russia's Return to G8 Not on Agenda Yet

The Kremlin spokesman said Russia's return to the Group of Eight was not on the agenda at the moment.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The possibility of Russia returning to the Group of Eight (G8), currently known as G7, is not on the agenda, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday.

"This matter is not on the agenda right now," Peskov told reporters.

He added that Russia was interested in the cooperation with the Group of 20 (G20) more than with G8.

"After all it is the most representative composition [of the participants] that in the best way reflects the position of the countries that affect economic and other processes in the world. In our opinion it is the most full and relevant format," Peskov said.

Russia formally joined the G8 club of industrial nations in 1998. In 2014, the original G7 members said they were not coming to Russia's resort city of Sochi for a G8 summit, citing the Ukraine crisis. Instead, they met in Brussels without Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The G20 is an international forum for the leaders and senior financial official of the world's 20 major economies. The next summit of the group is expected to take place in China on September 4-5.

Earlier in April, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said G7 would consider Moscow's role in resolving international conflicts and decide on the country's return to the group in a year.