Russia out in the cold after suspension from the G8

World leaders decided to suspend Russia from the G8 over president Vladimir Putin’s bid to reclaim Crimea from the Ukraine.

Russians celebrate the annexing of Crimea. Picture: Getty

The move to suspend Russia’s participation in the Group of eight was confirmed yesterday by France’s foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, but the signing of a treaty to annex Crimea later went ahead.

“It is envisaged that all the other countries, the seven leading countries, will unite without Russia,” Mr Fabius added.

The G8 leaders meet annually to discuss key issues of global significance and focus on the state of the world economy.

Russia was the most recent world power to come into the group, back in 1998 – joining France, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Italy and Canada.

This year’s annual summit had been scheduled to be held in the Russian city of Sochi in June, but preparations for that had already been suspended by the other seven member countries.

The US and European Union announced new sanctions against Russia yesterday over its actions in the Crimean peninsula.