The US President, Donald Trump, has expressed a desire for Russia to rejoin the G7, according to a report by Bloomberg on Thursday. “I would like to see Russia back in the G7” Trump told reporters at the White House, according to the report.
Reuters also reported that the US President referred to Russia’s exclusion from the G8 as a “big mistake.” The G7 is an international forum of the world’s leading industrial nations. The group consists of Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Canada, Japan and the United States. Russia was initially invited to participate in G7 summits in 1997, leading to the informal designation of the group as the G8.
Russian President Vladimir Putin explained that the G7 members would often meet in the old format, including with Moscow, even after Russia’s membership and the formation of the G8. Following the annexation of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol by Russia in 2014, Russia was subsequently excluded from the group.