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Updated December 21st, 2019 at 17:13 IST

Moscow no longer wishes to rejoin G7: Deputy Foreign Minister

Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov on Friday said that Moscow no longer wishes to rejoin the Group of Seven (G7) as it has other priorities.

Reported by: Vishal Tiwari
Moscow
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Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister on Friday said that his country no longer wishes to rejoin the Group of Seven (G7) as it has other priorities. Sergei Ryabkov said that Russia is no longer interested in rejoining the group as there are other platforms like G20, BRICS, and formats for Eurasian Integration where serious issues are being addressed. Sergey stressed that Russia understands that the G7 retains its value, although the nature of its activities raises questions.   

Read: Donald Trump Explains Reason For Dropping Doral As Venue For G7 Summit

Russia will not join G7?

Russia was part of the G7 grouping that used to operate as Group of Eight (G8) before Moscow's membership was suspended in 2014 following the annexation of Crimea. In March 2014, G7 members cancelled the planned G8 summit that was to be held in the Russian city of Sochi in June 2014 after Moscow annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine. After US President Donald Trump stated that Russia should rejoin the G7 and was supported by the Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, there was a ray of hope staring at Moscow but it was later shattered by the other four members who didn't agree to it. 

Read: Donald Trump Skips Climate Meeting At G7 Summit, Makes Up A Story

The G7 members that include Canada, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States imposed sanctions on the Russian Federation following the annexation of Crimea in 2014. The sanctions continued after the members in their final statement of the 2018 Canada meeting, announced that they are also ready to take restrictive measures against Russia for the failure of the Minsk Agreement. 

Read: UK Plans To Become First G7 Economy With Net Zero Carbon Emissions By 2050

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also echoed the same comment and said that the Russian Federation is not interested in joining the political forum of G8 as it doesn't see any benefit from the forum. Lavrov said that G20 is sufficient for Russia as it is now the major economic council of wealthy nations. Group of Eight (G8) was first constituted in 1997 after Russia was added to the political forum of G7.

Read: Hong Kong Protests: G7 Countries Take On China, Say 'avoid Violence'
 

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Published December 21st, 2019 at 15:49 IST

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