(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday that a return of Russia to the Group of Seven (G7) major industrialized democracies was not "possible" as Moscow is not committed to international law in Ukraine.
The German leader, head of the ruling Christian Democratic Party, said in a speech to the German parliament (Bundestag) that it cannot be imagined the return of Russia to the group (G7) at a time when the Russian government does not act in accordance with the values of international laws.
Among these values is respecting international rights and sovereignty of countries, she noted, referring to the Ukraine's crisis.
The next meeting of G7 consisting of US, Canada, Britain, France, Italy, Germany and Japan will be held on June 8-9 in Berlin.
Annexation of Crimea to Russia in 2014 was the cause of straining relations between Russia and the West.
Last February, leaders and heads of governments of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France met in Minsk, Belarus, and reached a 12-item agreement on which they agreed to the immediate ceasefire between the Ukrainian army and pro-Russian separatists.
Merkel's remarks comes a few hours ahead of the so-called the summit of the Eastern Partnership that starts later today in in the Latvian capital Riga between leaders of the EU and Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.
She noted that the meeting is held "under completely different circumstances" to the last such summit in Vilnius in 2013.
She said that the EU seeks to strengthen partnership with the countries of Eastern Europe, adding this partnership is not aimed against anyone, especially not against Russia.
The German leader further said that resolving the Ukraine dispute, based on the Minsk agreement, would take much patience.
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