Berlin: No reason to speculate about return to G8 format with Russia

BERLIN (Reuters) - There is no reason to speculate about a return to the Group of Eight (G8) meetings that included Russia, a spokesman for the German government said on Friday. Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano said on Tuesday that Russia was an important international partner and world leaders should consider inviting it back to the annual summit of major industrialised nations. German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni had not discussed the issue during their meeting in Berlin on Wednesday, adding: "So for the German government there are currently no indications or any reason to start speculating about that." (Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Writing by Michelle Martin; Editing by Andrea Shalal)