G8 snub counterproductive: Russia

Russia said on Tuesday its suspension from the G8 was counterproductive as Ukraine pulled more troops out of Crimea, effectively acknowledging defeat following Moscow's annexation of the Black Sea peninsula. "When it comes to contacts with the G8 countries, we are ready for them, we have an interest in them," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. "But the unwillingness of other countries to continue dialogue -- we consider it counterproductive, both for us and for our partners themselves," President Vladimir Putin's spokesman said. Russian troops and Kremlin-backed militias have seized control of almost all Ukrainian bases and ships in Crimea in a push ordered by Putin on March 1 in response to the fall in Kiev of a pro-Kremlin regime, according to AFP.