BERLIN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th August, 2020) Germany stands against Russia's participation in the upcoming G7 summit, but will welcome South Korea if it is invited, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Monday.
US President Donald Trump has expressed a wish to hold the next G7 meeting in an extended format, inviting Russian, Australian, South Korean, and Indian leaders to Washington. In late July, Maas said that the expansion of the G7 and the inclusion of Russian were unlikely. Earlier in the day, at a press conference with his South Korean counterpart, Kang Kyung-wha, the German foreign minister reiterated his position.
"The reason why Russia is not a part of that format anymore is Crimea and eastern Ukraine. We are having active negotiations on eastern Ukraine within the Normandy [Four] format. Right now, in the wake of the renewed ceasefire, we are not that far from me saying that we have achieved peace. Until it happens, I will refrain from [saying] that Russia can be invited," Maas said.
South Korea, on the other hand, is among states with a special global significance and a valued partner, thus deserving to be invited to the summit, according to Maas.
"That is why I would be in very much favor of it," he said, adding that the issue of expanding the G7 format should be discussed by the participants.
Russia joined the Group of Seven in 1998, making it G8 until 2014 when other member countries gathered in Brussels instead of Sochi due to disagreements with Moscow over the Ukrainian crisis and Crimea reunification.
