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Russian diplomat warns against making a show out of G8 reinstatement discussions

Russian Foreign Ministry's official spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Moscow is ready to look at the Group of Seven’s initiatives to reinstate the G8 format

Russian Foreign Ministry's official spokeswoman Maria Zakharova Alexander Pogozhev/TASS

Russian Foreign Ministry's official spokeswoman Maria Zakharova

© Alexander Pogozhev/TASS

MOSCOW, August 22. /TASS/. The Group of Seven nations should better agree their position on possible reinstatement of the G8 format rather than make a show out of such discussions, Russian Foreign Ministry's official spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.

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Russia not desperate for G8, thinks G20 format is more efficient — Kremlin spokesman

"As for the format, obviously, it is not serious — that’s not the way to do things. If they agree on a consolidated position once a year on a range of matters from international terrorism to the situation in Ukraine, they should have first agreed on such a logistical, formal issue as relations with Russia within the format of their forum. This is how they used to act," Zakharova told Rossiya-1 TV channel. "But, regrettably, the world today is being passed into the hands of people living under the laws of show business."

"I wish this situation stayed in the framework of law, in the framework of diplomacy," she noted.

Russia, according to Zakharova, is ready to look at the Group of Seven’s initiatives to reinstate the G8 format. "If it is about the format, it is very important in this case to hear and understand what the G7 wants, what its member nations can agree on. This being done, corresponding invitations should be referred to the Russian side," she noted.

The Group of Seven (G7) is an association of industrialized countries that brings together the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Canada, the United States, France and Japan. In 1997, it was renamed the Group of Eight (G8) after Russia joined the association. In 2014, Western countries decided to return to the G7 format after the developments in Ukraine and deterioration of relations with Russia.

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