Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov on Friday said that his country no longer wishes to rejoin the Group of Seven (G7) as it has other priorities.
There are other platforms where serious issues are being addressed, including the G20, formats for Eurasian integration and the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), Xinhua quoted him as saying at a seminar of the Valdai Discussion Club think tank.
The Russian Deputy Foreign Minister also stressed that his country understands that the G7 retains its value, although the nature of its activities raises many questions.
In August this year, the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had stated that the US President Donald Trump-led administration will work towards getting Russia reinstated to the G7 grouping.
Russia's membership to the G8 was suspended in 2014 over the issue of Crimea.