THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov suggested on Monday that the Group of Eight industrialised nations may have outlived its purpose, sounding a defiant note after some G8 leaders said the gathering's next meeting in Russia should be cancelled.
"If our Western partners believe the format has exhausted itself, we don't cling to this format. We don't believe it will be a big problem if it doesn't convene," Lavrov told reporters in The Hague, where G7 leaders are meeting without Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the crisis in Ukraine.