(Source: http://politmos.ru)

Russia can be accepted back to the G8 if it continues to cooperate with the West on the Syrian issue and if the Ukrainian conflict is resolved. This was stated in an interview with the “Bild” newspaper by the German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

In the case these conditions are fulfilled, the West will not be interested to exclude Russia from the debate between the major powers, as the Minister said. “We have never been interested to isolate Russia or turn the G8 into the G7” - he stressed.

Steinmeier also expressed the opinion that Russia was not interested in the long-term participation in the war in Syria and was looking for a way out of this “disaster”, trying to resolve the conflict. “We should not underestimate the fact that Russia with its millions of Muslims feels a serious threat due to the events in the Middle East” – the Foreign Minister added. The United States, the European Union and a number of other states have repeatedly imposed sanctions against Russia since March 2014.

Restrictive measures touched upon a number of Russian companies operating mainly in the energy, financial, and defense sectors. Sanctions were also imposed against individual citizens of Russia. The G8 format (France, Britain, Russia, the USA, Germany, Japan, Italy and Canada) ceased to exist in March 2014 simultaneously with the exclusion of Russia from the group. The G7 summit was held in June of that year in Brussels.