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No reason yet to reinstate Russia to G7: Polish FM

23.08.2019 13:30
Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz has said there is no reason for the West to soften its stance on Russia until Moscow changes its aggressive policy towards Ukraine.
Polands Jacek Czaputowicz.
Poland's Jacek Czaputowicz.EPA/PETER FOLEY

Czaputowicz was speaking at a press conference in New York on Thursday after a UN Security Council session chaired by Poland.

He was asked by public broadcaster Polish Radio whether Russia should be reinstated to the G7, an inter-governmental political forum from which it was excluded after Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region in 2014.

Czaputowicz replied: “If Russia changed its policy, only then would there be grounds to change the position of the West. We stand for maintaining unity within the West and waiting for Russia to change its position.”

Czaputowicz added that US President Donald Trump’s suggestion earlier this year that it would  be “appropriate” to have Russia rejoin what used to be the G8 was “intended to test the position of Russia.”

(jh/pk)

Source: IAR