Moscow has said that the Western-dominated group has “lost much of its relevance” as its global economic weight has shrunk
The West should not have expelled Russia from the G8, US President Donald Trump has said, adding that keeping Moscow in the group could have prevented the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022.
Trump made the remarks in a wide-ranging interview with Axios published on Friday, in which the US president reflected on the G7 summit in France and a dinner French President Emmanuel Macron hosted for him at Versailles.
He praised Macron for his hospitality, recalling that he had attended a lot of G7 summits. “And it used to be G8s. They should have kept the G8. You probably wouldn’t have the war with Russia and Ukraine if they did, but [then-US President Barack] Obama didn’t want [Russian President Vladimir] Putin there… They wanted Putin out. It used to be the G8. It would’ve been much better if they kept that that way,” he said.
Russia was removed from what was then the G8 in March 2014 after Crimea declared independence from Ukraine and joined Russia in a public referendum following a Western-backed coup in Kiev, leaving the bloc as the G7 — comprising the US, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan.
Trump has on numerous occasions floated Russia’s return to the group since his first term, at one point calling its removal “a mistake” and suggesting China could join too. European leaders, however, have consistently opposed the move, arguing that Moscow’s return could be considered only if it reverses its policy on Ukraine.
Russia itself has shown little appetite for a return. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said earlier this month that he was “relieved” when the country left the group, noting that Moscow stood alone among the Western countries that “were only thinking about managing the rest of the world.”
Last year, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also dismissed the G7 as having “lost much of its relevance,” citing its diminished role in the global economy. At the same time, despite its expulsion from the group, Moscow has been developing international cooperation on other platforms, including the G20, BRICS, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
