Moscow (dpo) – In response to the Crimea crisis, Russian president Vladimir Putin has ordered the formation of a new summit group. According to RIA-Novosti, the other seven countries – the US, Germany, Great Britain, France, Canada, Japan and Italy – are to be expelled. For the first meeting of the new G1, which is set for June in Moscow, the Kremlin chief has promised that “absolutely no one will be missing.”
With the expulsion of the seven countries, the Russian president has guaranteed that only the in his view “most powerful industrial countries” will be granted access to the conference. Invitations to the June meeting have already been sent, according to Kremlin spokesman Sergei Budnik. The heads of state of the ex-G8 countries expelled by Russia expressed their deep regret at the move taken by the Russian president, but are divided over an appropriate reaction. On this account, the US announced the founding of its own G1 summit. Great Britain, Germany, France and the remaining countries plan to follow suit with unilateral summits. A long-term goal – according to Chancellor Angela Merkel – is to renegotiate everything in the framework of so-called G1-G1-G1-G1-G1-G1-G1-G1 summits (with Russia included, again).
