Macron rejected the proposal to return to the G8 format with the participation of the Russian Federation

French President Emmanuel Macron has rejected a proposal to return to cooperation with Russia within the Group of Eight (G8), saying there are currently no conditions for this. He shared his opinion on November 22 on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Johannesburg.

"Today, the conditions for Russia's return to the G8 have not developed. This format depends on the unanimous agreement of all participants," TASS quoted the French leader as saying.

He added that France will not impose a decision on this issue on its partners when it takes over the presidency of the Group of Seven (G7) next year.

In addition, Macron noted that France intends to "build the French G7" by actively cooperating with countries outside the association, such as Brazil, India, China and South Africa.

"We will have an original and slightly new format, because we need unity," he concluded.

In June, The New York Times (NYT) noted that US President Donald Trump had demonstrated allied behavior towards Russia at the Group of Seven summit in Canada. The American leader himself also called the exclusion of the Russian Federation from the G8 a mistake, noting that this might have prevented the outbreak of the Ukrainian crisis.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted at the same time that Russia agreed with Trump that Russia's exclusion from the G8 was a mistake. Peskov also noted that at present, the G7, given the declining share of the union's states in the global economy and the trends taking place in these countries, "has lost its applied significance."

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