German business lobby groups call for Russia's inclusion in G-7 meeting

Berlin

RUSSIA should be invited to rejoin a summit of the Group of Seven industrial powers next weekend, the heads of two German business lobby groups were quoted as saying on Sunday.

The leaders of the G-7 nations held a summit without Russian President Vladimir Putin last year in protest against Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region. With little sign of the fighting in eastern Ukraine ending despite a ceasefire deal agreed in Minsk over three months ago, the exclusion has continued for a second year running.