U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that he would like Russia to rejoin the G-7 bloc ahead of the global group of industrialised nation’s summit in France this weekend.
During the previous Obama administration, Russia was kicked out of the original G-8 group, comprising the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom and Russia. The European Union also attends its annual leadership summits.
“I think it’s much more appropriate to have Russia in. It should be the G8, because a lot of the things we talk about have to do with Russia,” Mr. Trump told reporters in his Oval Office.
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“So I could certainly see it being the G-8 again. If somebody would make that motion, I would certainly be disposed to think about it very favourably, he said.
Observing that for most of the time it was the G-8 which included Russia, Mr. Trump said his predecessor Barack Obama didn’t want Russia in because he got “outsmarted” by president Vladimir Putin.
In 2014, Russia was disinvited from gatherings of the former G-8 after the country’s annexation of Crimea.
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