The G-7 cancelled the G-8, no more than that

Moscow took no interest in it: “this is an informal club, no need for badges. Real issues are discussed at the G-20 meetings.”  Lavrov and Deshchytsia meet

The G-7 has cancelled the G-8 meetings: the next one were supposed to be held in Sochi, Russia, yet it has been definitely suppressed earlier this week, replaced by a new meeting G-7 meeting in Brussels, to be held in June. After a series of leaks, it was Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council and guest of the G-7 meeting, who tweeted the news to the world: “G-7 leaders to meet again in Brussels in June. G-7 leaders will not participate in Sochi #Ukraine @nss2014”. Then the official statement, which after having condemned Russia’s illegal actions, said “we reaffirm that Russia’s actions will have significant consequences.”

The meeting of the G-8 member states less Russia, hence the former G-7, which haven’t existed since 1998, during an extraordinary meeting at The Hague called by the US President Barack Obama, has taken the decision everyone expected, sending a clear message to Moscow and pursuing the path of the international isolation for Vladimir Putin, as decided by President Obama. “We will suspend our participation in the G-8 until Russia changes course and the environment comes back to where the G-8 is able to have a meaningful discussion,” reads the joint statement.

“Currently, there is no G-8, not as summit nor as format,” said German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Russians tried to minimise: Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, representing Putin at the Nuclear Security Summit in The Hague, on the sides of which the G-7 meeting was held, said “the G-8 is an informal club, there are no social badges, no one can expel any other member.” He then tried to hit hard, “Important issues are discussed during the G-20 meetings nowadays,” meetings to which China, India, Brasil and other emerging economies take part. He’s partly right, yet the burden of their exclusion from the G-8 is still there.

While G-7 leaders were holding their meeting, and Russian troops were being amassed next to Ukraine borders, a “soothing” message has been sent by Moscow. Lavrov met his Ukrainian counterpart Andriy Deshchytsia at The Hague. No possibility to know the issues they discusses, yet this is the first official high-level contact since the beginning of the crisis. Deshchytsia has just said Ukraine wants to “live in peace” with Russia, and that it is “open to dialogue,” even though he added that western sanctions would be welcomed. Yet the meeting could not represent to Russia the first step towards meeting the G-7 call for Russia to “respect Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, begin discussions with the Government of Ukraine, and avail itself of offers of international mediation and monitoring to address any legitimate concerns.”

No further sanction has been established during the G-7 meeting, given that European member states are far more prudent than Obama on the matter, yet they offered their economic support to a Ukraine, sending Russia the message that Western countries support Ukraine. “The International Monetary Fund has a central role leading the international effort to support Ukrainian reform, lessening Ukraine’s economic vulnerabilities,” together with the World Bank, other international financial institutions, the EU, and bilateral sources. A true safety belt for avoiding Ukraine’s crash on its own debts.

Lor