G8

Vladimir Putin and Pope Francis are popular figures who impact people’s thoughts, and their meeting in the Vatican represented a reunification of Western and Eastern worlds, Ukrainian journalist Halyna Mokrushyna told RT’s In the Now.

There is huge irony at the G7 summit: those picnicking on sausages, pretzels and beer today, earlier created a military, political and social vacuum and destabilized the whole Middle East region, says political and social commentator Mo Ansar.

The US has been driving the Ukrainian crisis from the very beginning, so there is no action made by Kiev that will be condemned by the Americans, Srdja Trifkovic, a foreign affairs expert, told RT.

The Group of Seven unwillingness to invite Russia to the upcoming summit is a missed opportunity to resolving crises, according to the heads of two German business lobby groups.

Despite intense diplomatic efforts on the part of Moscow to find a political solution to the Ukraine crisis, G7 leaders are not yet ready to welcome Russia back at the discussion table, German FM said, insisting on further steps to deescalate the crisis.

President Putin wished “bon appétit” to G7 leaders who patronized Russia – excluded from the club over Ukraine – and set conditions it has to meet to restore ties with the West. Otherwise, Obama and his allies threatened, more sanctions would follow.

The G7 ‘snub’ to Russia really reveals the cracks behind the facade as America desperately tries to gain a broad alliance to support its misguided Ukrainian crusade.

Ukraine’s President-elect Petro Poroshenko is ready to sign a deal establishing free trade between the EU and Ukraine, right after his inauguration on June 7. The agreement lies at the heart of the Ukraine crisis and he hopes it will help “restore peace".

Western policy towards Syria is rather like Western policy toward Crimea and Ukraine at the moment – it’s floundering around, talking big but really not having the will to act, political analyst Chris Bambery told RT.