Group of Seven cancels G8 Sochi summit, excludes Russia

The Group of Seven leading industrialized nations meeting in The Hague Monday cancelled the G8 summit scheduled for June to punish Russia for its annexation of Crimea and decided to meet instead in Brussels without Russia – no longer as the G8 but as the G7. This was announced at an emergency meeting of the seven on the sidelines of a nuclear summit. Russia was not formally expelled from the group, but its participation was ended “until Moscow reverses itself.” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov responded by saying “It is not a big problem.”