Russia wants to continue contacts with G8

Russia wants to continue contacts with G8 member states, President Vladimir Putin's spokesman was quoted as saying on Tuesday, after the other seven members suspended their participation in the group. It will be the first time since Russia joined the G8 in 1998 that it will have been shut out of the annual summit of industrialised democracies.

Itar-Tass news agency quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying the signs from other countries they were unwilling to continue dialogue was "counterproductive".