EU against Russia's return to G7 – official

22.08.2019 18:00

Ukrinform

The European Union is against making any unconditional invitation to Russia to let it rejoin talks among the G7 world leaders, a senior official with the bloc has said.

The seven leaders of the world’s advanced industrialized countries are due to meet in the French resort of Biarritz this weekend, Reuters reported.

The format used to be known as G8 before Russia was kicked out in 2014 after annexing Crimea from Ukraine and then backing an anti-Kyiv rebellion in the industrial east of the country.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of the G7 summit, said the reasons for excluding Moscow “remain valid” and that any unconditional return offer would be “counterproductive” and “a sign of weakness”.

As Ukrinform reported, U.S. President Donald Trump stated that he wants Russia back at the Group of Seven summits of the world's leading economies, even though it still controls Ukraine's Crimean peninsula.

At the same time, Germany and Britain opposed the return of Russia to the G7.

The Russian Federation was expelled from the old G8 format after it had annexed the Ukrainian Crimea in 2014 and all other members of the group – the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the USA – imposed sanctions against Moscow.