Russia should rejoin the Group of 7, an economic and political forum of advanced democracies that it was suspended from following its 2014 invasion of Ukraine, President Donald Trump said Thursday.
“I’d love to have them back. I think it was a mistake to throw them out,” he told reporters in the Oval Office.
“It’s not a question of liking Russia or not liking Russia. … They should be sitting at the table. I think Putin would love to be back,” Trump added.
The G7 consists of the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom, with the European Union participating as a nonenumerated member, meaning the bloc does not hold the rotating presidency.
Russia used to be a member of the intergovernmental forum, formerly known as the G8, until its membership was suspended in 2014 after it invaded Ukraine and annexed Crimea. Moscow officially left the group in 2018 and has repeatedly said it does not want to rejoin.
Trump said it is “very possible” the full-scale war in Ukraine would never have started if Russia had not been excluded from the G7.
He added that he had argued about the matter with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other leaders. Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe “agreed with me 100 percent,” Trump said.
“I think it would have been very helpful and it still would be helpful to have Russia be a part of that mix,” he said. “If they were, I don’t think you would have had the problem that you have right now.”
Trump’s remarks came hot on the heels of his phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday in which the two leaders discussed negotiating an end to the war in Ukraine.
The Republican president added after the call that he and Putin would “probably” meet in Saudi Arabia in the “not too distant future.”