THE HAGUE (Reuters) – World leaders have agreed to hold a G7 summit in Brussels in June instead of attending a G8 meeting with Russia in Sochi, a French diplomatic source told Reuters on Monday.
“The G8 represents a certain value system, which is why Russia cannot take part,” the source said.
The source said the G7 group was not talking about a suspension of Russia, but about replacing the 2014 G8 summit that had been scheduled to take place in Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi in June with a G7 meeting in Brussels.
European Council President Herman Van Rompuy confirmed in a Twitter message that the G7 will meet in Brussels in June.
(Reporting by Elizabeth Pineau, additional reporting by Justyna Pawlak; Writing by Geert De Clercq; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
