Steinmeier: Russia May Rejoin G8 if Continues Cooperation on Syria, Ukraine

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said that Russia will be able to rejoin the G8 group of countries, which is now known as the G7 without Moscow’s participation, if it continues to cooperate with the West on Syria and if the Ukrainian conflict is resolved.

BERLIN (Sputnik) — Russia will be able to rejoin the G8 group of countries, which is now known as the G7 without Moscow’s participation, if it continues to cooperate with the West on Syria and if the Ukrainian conflict is resolved, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in an interview with the local media.

"If the Ukrainian conflict is resolved and we continue to successfully overcome the obstacles, and if Russia continues to work with us on a solution to the Syrian conflict, as it does now, then the West will not be interested in excluding Russia from regular discussions between the major Western powers for a long term," Steimneier said, as cited by the Bild newspaper.

According to the minister, the world powers “were never interested” in isolating Russia or in turning the G8 into the G7 for a long term.

The G7 group is considered to be a club of the world’s largest economies. It was known as G8 before the seven industrial nations bowed out of the G8 summit in Russia’s resort city of Sochi at the height of the 2014 Ukrainian crisis and met in Brussels without Russian President Vladimir Putin.