BERLIN, June 5. /TASS/. Berlin sees no reasons to change the G7 format for supporting dialogue with Russia, a German government source told reporters in Berlin on Tuesday.
"There is no discussion of any changes to the existing format," he stressed. "Regardless of this fact, there are a number of foreign political problems that need to be discussed with Russia."
"You all know about the events that made the G8 turn into the G7," the German official noted.
The old format
The Group of Seven is an unofficial association of economically developed countries that includes the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Canada, the United States, France and Japan. Their main declared objective is a search for solutions to global political and social problems.
In 1976-1997, the organization operated as the Group of Seven. The Russian president was first invited as an equal partner to a G7 summit in Naples in 1994. Since then, the meetings have taken place in the G8 format.
In 2014, Russia chaired the club. There were plans to hold a summit in Sochi, but the meeting was transferred to Brussels and held without Russia’s participation due to the 2014 events in Ukraine and tensions between the Western states that escalated after Crimea had acceded to Russia. The association decided to revive the G7 format.
Canada is chairing the G7 in 2018. A G7 summit will be held in Quebec on June 8-9.