Russia is not keen on staying in the G8 if the West does not want it.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stressed that all important issues in the world can be discussed at other forums such as the G20.

RT quoted Mr. Lavrov's statement on March 24 when attending the Nuclear Security Summit in The Hague, Netherlands, saying: "The G8 is only an informal organization and no one can grant membership rights or expel other members."

“If Russia's Western partners believe that this institution no longer needs Russia, then let them believe that, Russia is not interested in remaining in the G8 anymore,” Mr. Lavrov declared.

Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov (Photo AFP)

Mr. Lavrov also said that many countries believe that the G8 has fulfilled its mission because many world issues are now discussed at the G20 forum.

“In short, there are still many international organizations to consider global issues, including the UN Security Council, the Middle East Quartet and the P5+1 group on the Iranian nuclear issue,” Lavrov said.

The Russian foreign minister also commented on an earlier report that Australia was considering not inviting Russian President Vladimir Putin to the G20 Summit in Brisbane in November.

“The G20 was not founded by Australia so that Australia can propose not inviting Russia to attend the Conference,” Mr. Lavrov affirmed.

On the sidelines of the Summit, Russian Foreign Minister met with his US counterpart John Kerry to discuss the situation in Ukraine.

Both Moscow and Washington understand that Ukraine needs to reform its Constitution, Mr Lavrov said.

“We discussed the need to call on officials in Kiev to pay close attention to constitutional reform that takes into account the interests of all regions of Ukraine,” Lavrov said.

However, Mr. Lavrov admitted that these were only his and Mr. Kerry's assessments of the situation in Ukraine and they could not impose their ideas on the Ukrainian government.

However, the Russian Foreign Minister believes that it will be very difficult for Ukraine to overcome its internal crisis without reforms./.

According to VOV