G-8 Leaders Ditch Russia, Cancel Sochi Summit
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Leaders from the 'Group of Eight' (G-8) agreed on Monday to suspend Russia's participation and move their scheduled summit from Sochi after the country's invasion of the Crimean peninsula . 
G8 leaders meet during a summit in 2010/via Flickr Creative Commons
Monday's announcement came during a nuclear security summit at The Hague in the Netherlands.
According to The Globe and Mail, the G-8's decision does allow for Russia to return to the group if the country changes its course in the Ukraine.
The White House said in a statement explaining the G-8's decision to suspend Russia's involvement that "international law prohibits the acquisition of part or all of another state's territory through coercion or force."
"To do so violates the principles upon which the international system is built. We condemn the illegal referendum held in Crimea in violation of Ukraine's constitution."
Leaders from the G-8 said they would move their planned summit to Brussels, Belgium.
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday that suspending his country from the "informal organization" was not a "great misfortune." Lavrov said that Russia was "not attached to this format" and that "the economic and financial questions are decided in the G-20" and not in the G-8.
The G-8 was established in the 1990s when the G-7 invited the participation of a newly-reformed Russian Federation.
Read more about the G-8's suspension of Russia at BBC News, The Globe and Mail, and CNN.
Reach Associate News Editor Colin Hale here. Follow him on Twitter.
