The 40th G8 summit is to be held in Russia in 2014.
The G8 is an unofficial forum which brings together the heads of the leading industrialized democracies: Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, the United States, Canada (since 1976), Russia (since 1998), and the EU Commission (since 1981).
G8 Leaders to Meet in Sochi in June
The lavish Olympic village built by President Vladimir Putin to host the world’s elite athletes will soon host leaders and elite policymakers from the eight largest economies. Leaders of the so-called G8 will gather in Sochi in early June for their annual summit.
June’s meeting will be the second hosted by Russia, and just as the Winter Olympics have put a spotlight on the country, many observers say the G8 Sochi Summit is also likely to have a significant impact internationally.
Russia was the last to join this elite club (in 1998), turning it from a "G7" into a "G8" – after seven years of its gradual involvement in the forum’s work, which also included the participation of then-Russian president Boris Yeltsin in the summits as an equal partner.
“Russia was allowed in under Yeltsin in order to secure Russian democracy and to make Moscow, and the critics of Yeltsin, see that cooperation with the West and Japan was more important than a new Cold War," said Thomas Ambrosio, a political science professor at the University of North Dakota. "Of course, what we have now is a solid, non-democracy [in Russia] that is chairing this organization.”
http://www.voanews.com/content/g-8-leaders-to-meet-in-sochi-in-june-for-annual-summit/1850859.html
Boycott the G8
Flashback to DU 2006 - McCain calls for leaders to boycott G8 summit in Russia