Ukraine Unspun

Two Perspectives On Russia's G8 Status

Leaders of the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations at their meeting in The Hague on March 25.

Meeting in the Hague on March 24, the United States and six other members of the Group of Eight (G8) industrially advanced nations agreed to suspend Russia's participation in the club, cancel a meeting of the group in Sochi, and instead hold one in Brussels.

The Group of Seven, which represents the seven leading industrialized countries, said the move was in response to Russia's annexation of Crimea.

RFE/RL decided to compare a few headlines:
"New York Times:" Russia Is Ousted From Group of 8 by U.S. and Allies

"Wall Street Journal:" G-7 Agrees to Exclude Russia, Increase Sanctions

ITAR-TASS (Russia's state-run news agency): Leaders of G7 suspend their countries’ participation in G8

In fairness to ITAR-TASS, the headline comes directly from the G7 statement. Here's the line in question:
"We will suspend our participation in the G8 until Russia changes course and the environment comes back to where the G8 is able to have a meaningful discussion."

Nonetheless, taken out of context, the headline makes it sound like there's still a G8, but Russia is its only member.

That's certainly one way of looking at it.

And perhaps it's appropriate -- as of the time of publication, Russia's G8 website was still up and running: -- Glenn Kates