In a show of anger and anguish over its suspension from biggest global economic amalgam G-8 by the key G-7 members, Russia has given up on the so called group of seven plus Russia, the G-8. Western countries and Japan have suspended their 16-year collaboration with Russia in the G8 group in response to the annexation of Crimea and have threatened sweeping sanctions in the event of any Russian military moves in the region.

As Russian troops appeared to mass on Ukraine's eastern border, the G7 statement hinted at much broader sanctions if Russia made further “expansionist” moves.The expulsion of Russia from the G8 came three days after Moscow annexed Crimea from Ukraine. Crimeans voted to secede after the interim government of Ukraine decided to ban Russian as an official language. Moscow and the West have been locking horns ever since, with the Russia playing its victim card and the USA and EU playing the part of punishing parent.  Both Washington and Brussels have sanctioned Russia for its support of the ethnic Russian separatist movement in east Ukraine.

The move, a clear and deliberate break from the post-Soviet status quo, was intended to underline Russian isolation. Leaders from the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Canada and Japan met in The Hague as the G7 for the first time since Russian was brought into the group in 1998 to seal east-west co-operation and lay the cold war to rest.

The G7 leaders issued a joint statement, under the title of the Hague Declaration, saying they would not attend a planned G8 summit in Sochi in June but would instead convene without Russia in Brussels. The group's foreign ministers would also boycott a planned G8 meeting in Moscow in April. The declaration said Russia's actions were not consistent with the "shared beliefs and shared responsibilities" that had made the formation of the G8 possible.

Speaking at the margins of the global Nuclear Security Summit in The Hague, Netherlands, the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, shrugged off the loss of G8 membership as being inconsequential. Shortly before his meeting with Lavrov, Deshchytsia, the acting Ukrainian foreign minister, had said his government had been seeking a peaceful settlement to a crisis that was in imminent danger of escalating. Lavrov confirmed Russia has agreed to maintain contacts with the Kiev government.

Before arriving in The Hague, UK premier David Cameron has said that Britain and its Nato allies would help bolster the defences of the alliance's Baltic members, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, who have Russian minorities and which fear destabilisation by Moscow.

The move, a clear and deliberate break from the post-Soviet status quo, was intended to underline Russian isolation. Obama also sought to deepen Russian isolation in a meeting in The Hague with the Chinese president, Xi Jinping to reaffirm its commitment to the rule of international law and non-interference in the affairs of sovereign states.

The Group of 7 (G7), the seven wealthiest major developed nations on Earth by national net wealth, representing more than 63% of the net global wealth ($241 trillion), is a group consisting of the finance ministers and central bank governors of seven advanced economies: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States meeting to discuss primarily economic issues.

Collectively, in 2012 the G8 nations comprised 50.1% of 2012 global nominal GDP and 40.9% of global GDP (PPP). Each calendar year the responsibility of hosting the G8 is rotated through the member states in the following order: France, United States, United Kingdom, Russia, Germany, Japan, Italy, and Canada. The European Union is also represented within the G7. The IMF's Managing Director usually participates. Recent G7 meetings include that of May 2013 in Aylesbury, United Kingdom with an emergency meeting in The Hague, Netherlands on March 24, 2014. Most recently there was a meeting in Brussels on June 4th 2014.

The holder of the presidency sets the agenda, hosts the summit for that year, and determines which ministerial meetings will take place.  G8 ministers also meet throughout the year, such as the G7/8 finance ministers (who meet four times a year), G8 foreign ministers, or G8 environment ministers. The annual G8 leaders summit is attended by the heads of government. The member country holding the G8 presidency is responsible for organizing and hosting the year's summit.
Russian president Vladimir Putin said he has decided that G-8 membership does not have its privileges and advantages.” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a local radio station in Moscow that such a format does not exist for now.

The world's 7 leading industrialized nations met without Russia for the first time in 17 years on June 04-05, leaving President Vladimir Putin out of the talks in retaliation for his seizure of Crimea and Russia's part in destabilizing eastern Ukraine.

Vladimir Putin perhaps as sarcasm wished the G7 leaders “bon appetite”

The G7's precursor was the 'Group of Six', founded ad hoc in 1975, consisting of finance ministers and central bank governors from France, West Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States to monitor developments in the world economy and assess economic policies. Canada became the seventh member in 1976, after which the name 'Group 7' or G7 was used. Russia, which was invited to join as the last member, was excluded from the forum by the other members on March 24, 2014, as a result of its involvement in the 2014 Crimea crisis in Ukraine.  The original G7 nations voted to effectively suspend Russia from the organization in response to the country's annexation of Crimea; however, it was made clear that the suspension was temporary. Thus the group now comprises seven nations and will continue to meet as the G7 group of nations.

G7 leaders concluded their meeting in Brussels on June 05 and said in a press conference that they will support the new government of Petro Poroshenko in Ukraine.  European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso urged Russia to take concrete and credible measures to de-escalate situation in Ukraine. 

However, Putin and Obama were expected to run into each other in Normandy, France on June 06 Friday, but the Russians said they are not interested in discussing Ukraine following the G7′s snub. Leaders of the G7 had declared in March that they would boycott the G8 summit in Sochi this month. Instead, they took their silver spoons and shared tea and talk in Brussels for a two-day G7 summit. The G7 meeting in Normandy was meant to commemorate the anniversary of D-Day, when allied troops stormed the beach of northern France to launch a war against Germany and Italy.

Peskov said Itar-Tass news agency quoted Peskov as saying that Putin will not discuss Ukraine with President Barack Obama even though both will be meeting in Normandy on Friday. “We are not making such preparations, with a group of friends like that…who needs enemies?”
Russian equities ignored the sanction threats today. 

Clearly, the Russia-West conflict has taken a serious turn now.

Meanwhile, the Market Vectors Russia (RSX) exchange traded fund settled 0.72% higher at $25.84 per share.