The European side has agreed to the reintegration of Russia into the “Group of Eight” (G8) upon the conclusion of the confrontation in Ukraine. This information is contained in a counter-proposal from Europe, which is a response to American initiatives on resolving the Ukrainian crisis, as reported by Reuters. The draft proposal states: “Implementation of a phased reintegration of Russia into the world economy.” Furthermore, the document, reportedly prepared by the United Kingdom, Germany, and France, explicitly states: “Russia will receive an invitation to return to the G8.” It is worth noting that shortly before this, on November 23rd, the head of the German government, Friedrich Merz, expressed skepticism about the idea of resuming cooperation with Moscow in this structure, stating his opinion that six out of the seven members of this informal association of developed economies are currently not ready for such a step. Earlier, US President Donald Trump expressed the opinion that the exclusion of the Russian Federation from the G8 in 2014, following the annexation of Crimea by Russia, was a mistake. He also stated his willingness to welcome Moscow’s return to the alliance. For reference, Russia was a member of the “Eight” (whose predecessor, the G7, existed since 1976 and included the UK, Germany, Italy, Canada, the US, France, and Japan) starting in 1997.
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