WASHINGTON — President Trump said it was a “mistake” for Russia to have been forced out of G7 during the nations’ annual summit on Monday, before suggesting not just President Vladimir Putin but possibly Chinese President Xi Jinping could be welcomed in.
“The G7 used to be the G8. Barack Obama and a person named [ex-Canadian Prime Minister Justin] Trudeau didn’t want to have Russia in,” Trump said alongside current Canadian PM Mark Carney at the start of the international security meeting.
“I would say that that was a mistake, because I think you wouldn’t have a war right now if you had Russia in, and you wouldn’t have a war right now if Trump were president four years ago,” he added.
Trump has long opposed Putin’s ouster from the G8 after the Russian leader invaded Ukrainian Crimea in 2014.
“Putin speaks to me. He doesn’t speak to anybody else,” he said. “He doesn’t want to talk because he was very insulted when he was thrown out of the G8 as I would be, as you would be, as anybody would be.”
Asked later whether China should join, the president also said: “Well, it’s not a bad idea. I don’t mind that. If somebody wants to suggest China coming in, I think we suggest, but you want people that you can talk to.”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz disagreed sharply and released a statement later on X saying: “The pressure on Russia must be increased.”
“This was a trusting and open exchange with US President Donald Trump before the start of the G7: We are looking for ways to end the escalation in the Middle East and discussing the war against Ukraine,” he posted.
Leaders from France, Germany, Italy Japan, the European Union and the United Kingdom all convened with Trump and Carney for the summit in the Rocky Mountains resort town of Kananaskis in Alberta.
Before flying to the Great White North, the president held lengthy phone calls with Putin, to talk about de-escalating the conflict between Iran and Israel as well as efforts to curb Tehran’s nuclear program.
Trump had already grown frustrated at Russia and Ukraine not coming to a peace deal to end the three-year war that Moscow launched in February 2022, but argued at the G7 this year that its past decisions as an international body isolated Russia.
“They threw Russia out, which I claimed was a very big mistake, even though I wasn’t in politics then. I was very loud about it,” Trump griped.
Russia has expressed no interest in wanting to rejoin the block after its 2014 suspension.
Other than his criticisms of the G7 format, the president expressed optimism about getting meaningful conversations done at the “beautiful” location for the summit, on the outskirts of Banff National Park.
“I think we’re going to accomplish a lot, and I expect to, and I think our primary focus will be trade and trade with Canada, and I’m sure we can work something out,” he said.
Carney also expressed optimism that a US-Canada trade deal could be reached soon.
“Nostalgia isn’t a strategy. We have to change with the times and build a better world. And some of you, such as you, Mr. President, have anticipated these massive changes and are taking bold measures to address them,” the prime minister told Trump.
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