In March 2014 Russia was suspended indefinitely following the annexation of Crimea, whereupon the political forum name reverted to G7.[4][5][6] In 2017 Russia announced its permanent withdrawal from the G8.[4] However, several representatives of G7 countries stated that they would be interested in Russia's return to the group.[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] The European Union was represented at the G8 since the 1980s as a "nonenumerated" participant, but originally could not host or chair summits.[17] The 40th summit was the first time the European Union was able to host and chair a summit.