Moscow (AFP)
Russia said on Wednesday it was ready to "consider" a possible return to the G8 through its reintegration into the group of most industrialized countries, which it was excluded in 2014 because of the Ukrainian crisis.
US President Donald Trump assured on Tuesday that he "could fully support" a reinstatement of Russia, marking a new break with his G7 allies who are to meet this weekend in Biarritz, in the south-west of France.
"If a decision that will be made at this summit will concern Russia, then of course we will examine it and we will respond," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a press conference.
Russia was excluded from the G8, where it stood alongside Germany, Canada, the United States, France, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom, after the annexation of the Ukrainian Peninsula of Crimea in March 2014.
Moscow had last year said it had no intention of returning to the G8 after a first call from Donald Trump, saying it was happy to work with the G20 format.
Lavrov praised the G20 format as "a mechanism for reaching a consensus", unlike the "ultimatums" of the G7 countries against Russia.
Beyond Ukraine, relations between Russia and Westerners are plagued by persistent disagreements over Syria and Iran, accusations of interference in electoral processes and the poisoning of the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in England in March 2018.
© 2019 AFP