Berlin: G7 Format Cannot Last Long, Russia Can Renew Membership

The current G7 format of the world’s leading economies cannot remain for long and Russia may renew its membership in the group, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Thursday.

BERLIN (Sputnik) – Earlier in the day, Steinmeier said the G7 needed Russia to resolve existing global conflicts, including those in Ukraine, Syria, Iraq and Libya.

“I believe it’s not in our interests to retain the G7 format over a long period of time. The change [of the G8 to the G7] was in line with Russia’s breach of international law. I hope that Russia will find a way back into the ‘group of seven,’” Steinmeier said at a press conference.

In 2014, the G8 format became G7 after Russia was suspended from the group by the other seven member nations over Crimea's reunification with Russia and allegations over Moscow's involvement in the Ukrainian internal conflict, repeatedly denied by Moscow.

Leaders of the G7, comprising the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan, agreed to hold a June 2014 summit in Brussels instead of the originally planned Russian city of Sochi. The 41st G7 summit is scheduled to take place in the Bavarian Elmau Castle, outside Munich, on June 7-8, 2015. Russia did not receive an invitation to participate in the meeting of the world’s largest economies.

According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Russia cannot be excluded from the G8 because the group is an informal club bringing together world leaders to discuss issues of mutual interest.

German Development Minister Gerd Mueller said Thursday that Russia’s return to the G7 depended on the implementation of the Minsk peace deal on the Ukrainian crisis.