US, Western Nations Kick Russia Out of G8

Russian FM Mocks Move as Stupid and Meaningless

Western members of the G8, led by President Obama, have announced that they have decided to “expel” Russia from the group, with President Obama making it a point several times to call the group the “G7.”

Which could’ve made some sense, except the G7 is already its own thing, an organization of finance ministers that got its start as the Group of Six, and expanded to seven with the inclusion of Canada.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov mocked the move as meaningless, noting that the G8 was only an informal group to begin with, and doesn’t have formal “membership.”

Likewise, Lavrov noted that G8’s only reason for existing was a single annual summit allowing its Western members to bring up topics of import with Russia, and without Russia the group won’t be doing anything anyhow.

Underscoring that point, British Prime Minister David Cameron confirmed that the 2014 summit, scheduled for June in Sochi, Russia, hasn’t just been postponed or relocated, but will be cancelled outright. Without Russia, there’s just no point.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.