The Group of Eight (G8) refers to the group of eight highly industrialized nations- -France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Japan, the United States, Canada, and Russia-that hold an annual meeting to foster consensus on global issues like economic growth and crisis management, global security, energy,and terrorism. The forum enables presidents and prime ministers, as well as their finance and foreign ministers, to candidly discuss pressing international issues. It had formed from the Group of Seven after excluding the country of Russia, and resumed operating under that name after Russia was disinvited in 2014 .