DUSHANBE , July 15, Asia-Plus - Democrat Senator from the Illinois State Barack Obama who has virtually insured his right to run for the US presidency from the Democratic Party, opposed an idea of striking out Russia from the eight industrialised nations of the world.

Speaking in an interview with the CNN television company, extracts from which were published on Saturday, Obama said that it would be a mistake to exclude Russia . If the US intends to do something with the proliferation of WMDs, he noted, the US should invite Russia to tackle this important issue. He emphasised at the same time, that US efforts would be weakened considerably in this sphere without cooperation with Russia .

CNN juxtapositions Obamba’s stand to the opinion of his key rival in the presidential race Republican John McCain. The latter repeatedly stated that if he occupies the presidential office, he would strive for sacking Russia from the G-8 to punish Russia allegedly for reversing the process of developing political freedoms.