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Donald Trump said it was a “big mistake” to exclude Russia from G7 tops when he used his opening comments from the Rocky Mountains of Canada to regret the treatment of the Moscow group.
The American president caused his complaint to flanked by Mark Carney, the Prime Minister of Canada, who marks an uncomfortable start of this year’s top, which is dominated by war in the middle -East, trade tensions and the inability of Washington to get a peace agreement in Ukraine.
Trump has long said that he would like to see the G7 return to a G8 format, which brings Moscow back into the fold as it was before the Russia annexation of Crimea in 2014.
“This was a big mistake. You wouldn’t have that war,” said Trump, referring to the full invasion of Russia in Ukraine that started in 2022. “[Vladimir] Putin speaks to me, he doesn’t speak anyone else because he was offended when he was thrown out of the G8. ”
The president said it was “not a bad idea” to have China as part of the G7, which for decades included the largest industrialized economies and liberal democracies in the world. China and Russia are part of the G20, a wider multilateral group that includes the world’s greatest economies.
Trump’s blame came when Volodyymyr Zenskyy, the President of Ukraine, was invited to become a member of the group on Tuesday for a special session about the conflict with Russia. From Trump and Zenskyy is also expected to have a bilateral meeting on Tuesday.
In his own opening comments, Carney Trump had wished a happy birthday – he became 79 – and noted that the “G7 is nothing without American leadership”.
Trump and Carney had bilateral conversations after the opening comments, which Canadian officials described as “productive” and “aimed at promoting current negotiations on the trade and safety relationship between the two countries”.
The US and Canada have tried to reach a settlement for the commercial disputes that have been increased after Trump had imposed a steep new rates on the import of Canadian metals in the US, but it was unclear whether there was a breakthrough in sight. “We’re going to see if we can get out today,” said Trump.
It was unclear whether G7 leaders would find a common position or message about the conflict between Israel and Iran that broke out on the eve of the top, but Trump urged Tehran to negotiate.
“It is painful for both parties, but I would say that Iran does not win this war, and they should talk,” Trump said. “And they must talk immediately before it’s too late.”
When asked whether the US had given intelligence aid to Israel, Trump said that Washington “had always supported Israel” and added: “Israel is doing very well now”.
