Russia shrugs off US decision to exclude it from G8

Russia has reportedly shrugged off the latest efforts by the US and its allies to isolate the country as they excluded Russia from G8 for now in retaliation of its Crimea takeover.

The US and its allies announced that they would boycott a planned summit in Sochi, but Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reportedly revealed that it would not be a 'big problem' if the G8 does not convene.

According to Fox News, Lavrov said that if Russia's western partners believe the G8 format has 'exhausted itself', they do not cling to it, as all the members of the G8 group except for Russia, known as the G7, met at The Hague to strategize over Moscow's aggression against Ukraine, amid concerns about a Russian troop buildup.

The leaders of the G7 nations reportedly warned that Russia's actions would have 'significant consequences' and that they 'remain ready to intensify actions that would have an increasingly significant impact on the Russian economy, if Russia continues to escalate this situation, in a joint statement after the meeting.

The statement also said that the G7 nations will not go to Sochi in June and would 'suspend' participation in the G7 until 'Russia changes course and the environment comes back to where the G-8 is able to have a meaningful discussion', the report added.