Washington, D.C. (US): The United States and its Western allies are assessing whether Russia should remain within the Group of Twenty (G20) grouping of major economies following its invasion of Ukraine, sources involved in the discussions told Reuters on Tuesday.
The news agency also said that Poland on Tuesday had suggested to US officials that it replace Russia in the group, and that they received a "positive response".
Poland says it has suggested to US officials that Russia be excluded from the G20 group of major economies as punishment for its invasion of Ukraine and that the suggestion had received a "positive response".
Polish Economic Development and Technology Minister Piotr Nowak said the matter had been discussed at meetings held in Washington DC last week.
"During the meetings with, among others, (US Commerce Secretary) Gina Raimondo, we made a proposal to exclude Russia from the G20, which was met with a positive response and approval, and the matter is to be handed over to President (Joe) Biden," Nowak told reporters in Warsaw.
There was no immediate response from the US Department of Commerce.
While not commenting specifically on the Polish statement, one US source said separately that Russia had violated international norms and so there should be consequences for its dealings in multilateral forums.
Russia was suspended from what was then known as the Group of Eight (G8) club of leading economies after its annexation of Crimea in 2014.
The G20 is a grouping of the world's largest economies which aims to coordinate action on issues affecting the global economy, including climate change and development.
The likelihood that any bid to exclude Russia outright would be vetoed by others in the club - which includes China, India, Saudi Arabia and others - raised the prospect of some countries instead skipping G20 meetings this year, the sources said.
The G20, along with the smaller Group of Seven - comprising just the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan and Britain - is a key international platform for coordinating everything from climate change action to cross-border debt.
The US and its allies would consult whether Russia should remain within the G20 grouping of major economies after its invasion of Ukraine, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has said, underlining that it "cannot be business as usual" for Moscow.
