The Russian government has reacted with relative calm to calls for Moscow to be shut out of the G20 group of major industrialized states.

“The G20 format is important,’’ Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday, according to the TASS news agency.

However, he said, an exclusion would not be fatal at present, most G20 members are waging an economic war against Russia anyway.

Moscow was ready to take part in the meetings; Peskov stressed, but now also wanted to establish new contacts and relations.

The day before, U.S. President Joe Biden spoke out in favour of Russia’s exclusion from the G20.

But Russia has at least one ally in the format in China.

The German government also considers an exclusion unrealistic.