President Vladimir Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that Russia is not pondering returning to the Group of Eight.
"At this time, there is no framework for discussion," Peskov told the Russian News Service on Wednesday. He added, however, "Russia is open to cooperation. If we receive signals from our partners, this will become a topic of discussion."
Peskov also noted that Russia will continue to work with the Group of 20.
This year's G8 Summit was initially set to be hosted by Russia and held in the Olympic venue of Sochi. The other members of the group decided in late March to forego Sochi in favor of a Group of Seven leading industrial nations summit in Brussels. The decision came as "a reaction to the Russian Federation's violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity," according to a press release issued by the European Commission on Tuesday.
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