Donald Trump said on the eve of the annual Group of Seven summit that it would be ‘appropriate’ for Russia to retake its seat at the table with the world’s most advanced economies.
He claimed Tuesday that Barack Obama kicked Moscow out, because Vladimir Putin ‘outsmarted him,’ and not because Russia invaded and seized the Crimean Peninsula and refused to return it to Ukraine.
‘It was the G8 for a long time, and now it’s the G7. And a lot of the time we talk about, we talk about Russia, Russia — because I’ve been to numerous G7 meetings,’ the sitting U.S. president revealed. ‘And I guess President Obama because Putin outsmarted him.’
Donald Trump said on the eve of the annual Group of Seven summit that it would be ‘appropriate’ for Russia to retake its seat at the table with the world’s most advanced economies
World leaders booted Russia from the club that was once known as the G8 in 2014. A statement on behalf of the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, the UK and Japan explicitly cited Russia’s incursion into Ukraine.
Trump has said since 2018 that Russia should be readmitted, although he’s received limited backing from the organization’s other member governments, and Russia has indicated that it doesn’t have a strong desire to rejoin.
He revisited the topic as he prepared on Tuesday to travel to Biarritz over the weekend for the yearly conference, where he’ll meet with Boris Johnson for the first time since the like-minded conservative’s party elevated him to prime minister.
Trump said that he’d be ‘disposed’ to allow Russia to rejoin the group if ‘somebody’ made a motion within the group.
‘President Obama thought it wasn’t a good thing to have Russia in, and so, he wanted Russia out. But I think it’s much more appropriate to have Russia in, particularly the G8, because a lot of things we talk about have to do with Russia,’ he argued.
Trump said, ‘So, I can certainly see it being the G8 again, if somebody would take that motion, I would certainly be disposed to think about very favorably.’
He claimed for a second time that Obama was the one who orchestrated Putin’s removal.
‘But as you know, for most of the time, it was the G8 It included Russia, and President Obama didn’t want Russia in because he got outsmarted. Well, that’s not the way it really should work,’ he added.
Member countries were in agreement in 2014 that Russia’s involvement in multinational talks should be halted until it respected neighbor nations’ sovereignty.
‘International law prohibits the acquisition of part or all of another state’s territory through coercion or force,’ a joint statement said. ‘To do so violates the principles upon which the international system is built. We condemn the illegal referendum held in Crimea in violation of Ukraine’s constitution.’
Russia’s foreign minister said in a scathing response it was ‘not attached’ to the group and ‘we don’t see a great misfortune’ to be left out of future discussions.
‘G8 is an informal organization that does not give out any membership cards and, by its definition, cannot remove anyone,’ said top diplomat Sergey Lavrov at a news conference. ‘All the economic and financial questions are decided in G20, and G8 has the purpose of existence as the forum of dialogue between the leading Western countries and Russia.’
Trump made the comments as he met with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis at the White House
Leadership has turned over in several G7 countries, including the U.S., UK and France, since the countries punished Russia for the use of force in Crimea.
Economic sanctions remain on the nation, however, that was allowed to retain its seat on the United Nations’ Security Council.
Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov wasn’t enormously enthused in 2018 when Trump floated a return for Russia to the G8.
‘Russia is focused on other formats, apart from the G7,’ Peskov said via state media outlet Sputnik, using the informal organization’s group’s current name.
Trump coincidentally lost the only vocal backer of the suggestion on Tuesday with the resignation of Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.
Conte said last year that including Russia is ‘in the interests of everyone,’ seconding Trump’s proposal in a tweet. But Conte announced rump was in the Oval Office meeting with Romania’s president.