MOSCOW, June 8. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin prefers to work in more efficient international formats than the Group of Seven, presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.
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- German Foreign Ministry urges Russia's return to G8
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"As for the speculations on whether Putin was invited or was not invited or whether he will be invited or not, I would like to repeat once again: the Russian president focuses on the participation in other, currently much more efficient formats that reflect the real state of things in the global economic space, and so on," Peskov said, adding he was referring such formats, as the Group of Twenty, for instance.
He said there were no point in commenting the G7 leaders’ statements about further pressure on Russia. "Both the Russian Foreign Ministry and we [the Kremlin administration] have already told about our attitude towards this sanction rhetoric and I have nothing to add," he said. "There is nothing new in it."
Earlier on Monday, US President Barack Obama told a news conference after the Group of Seven summit in Germany that Western sanctions against Moscow would stay in place until the Minsk agreements on the Ukrainian settlement were completely implemented. This position was shared by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who said that the Group of Seven was prepared to toughen anti-Russian sanctions if the situation required.
At the same time, the G7 leaders recognized the importance of further dialogue with Russia. This position was voiced by French President Francois Hollande and shared by Italian and Japanese Prime Ministers, Matteo Renzi and Shinzo Abe.