Reuters) - German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier dismissed on Sunday calls from the
radical Left party to invite Russian President Vladimir Putin to this year's summit of the Group of Seven industrial powers.
The leaders of G7 nations held a summit without Putin last year in protest against Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region. With little sign of bloodshed in eastern Ukraine ending despite a ceasefire deal agreed in Minsk two months ago, the exclusion has continued.
Gregor Gysi, parliamentary leader of the Left party that includes some former East German communists, has argued that Russia was needed to help solve international crises and the G7 should therefore once again be expanded into the G8.
Bookmarks