Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has called the G-7 leaders’ move not to invite Russian President Vladimir Putin to their upcoming summit in Bavaria a mistake.

The G-7 leaders’ decision not to invite Russian President Vladimir Putin to their forthcoming summit in Bavaria is a misstep, former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said in an interview with the online edition of the German newspaper Rheinische Post.

“I think it was a mistake not to invite Vladimir Putin to the G7 summit,” Schroeder said.

According to him, both the Russians and the Western leaders have made a spate of political blunders when dealing with the situation around Ukraine.

“Russia should have been included in the negotiations on an association agreement,” he pointed out.

Schroeder specifically underscored the importance of developing cooperation with Moscow, saying that “Russia has an alternative to Europe, but not vice versa.”