The only G-8 summit Russia ever hosted was 20 years ago this week. The photos from St. Petersburg look unreal today, in the fifth year of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The only G-8 summit Russia ever hosted was 20 years ago this week. The photos from St. Petersburg look unreal today, in the fifth year of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In the fifth year of the full-scale war in Ukraine, it is hard to imagine, but there was a time when leaders from across the world flew to Russia to discuss major international issues with Vladimir Putin. In 2006, when Russia still belonged to the Group of 8, President George W. Bush of the United States, President Jacques Chirac of France, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, Prime Minister Romano Prodi of Italy, Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain, Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan, Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen of Finland and José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, all descended on St. Petersburg for a three-day summit meeting. The leaders of Kazakhstan, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, India, China and the Republic of Congo were there as observers.