Kremlin ready to work with G7 despite West's Sochi summit snub

Despite the West's decision to freeze Russia's participation in the Group of Eight (G8) events, Moscow is still interested in continuing contacts with its partners, the Kremlin said Tuesday. "Russia is still ready for these contacts at all levels, including the highest one," Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, adding that Russia always supports all-around cooperation with both the East and the West. Meanwhile, Peskov said Moscow has not ryet eceived a formal message from the the Group of Seven (G7) industrialized countries about changes or cancellation of the scheduled events. The official mentioned, in particular, the Russia-Germany top-level consultations scheduled for April and the invitation for President Vladimir Putin to join the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Normandy Landings in France in June. Leaders from Italy, Britain, Japan, France, Germany, Canada and the United States said Monday in The Hague that they planned to hold a G7 summit in Brussels in June to replace the scheduled G8 meeting in Sochi. They also said Russia's participation in the G8 was suspended until Moscow changed course.