Former French president Valery Giscard d'Estaing argued on Friday that it would help defuse tensions between Russia and the West if the Group of Seven became a Group of Eight again with Russia rejoining it.

Former French president Valery Giscard d'Estaing argued on Friday that it would help defuse tensions between Russia and the West if the Group of Seven became a Group of Eight again with Russia rejoining it.

"I believe that [the G8] is an important format for dealing with the current political crisis. It must be Russia's own decision whether it should participate in it or not," Giscard told reporters during a presentation in Moscow of his book "La Victoire de la Grande Armee."

"[The G8] is not a political association. There are the summits of the G20 to deal with politics, for example. The Group of Eight is above all an economic association," he said.

Giscard was a co-founder of the Group of Six, the predecessor of the G7.

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