Trump says Russia should be readmitted to G7

Flags representing the participants of the Group of Seven (G-7) leaders summit at the Borgo Egnazia resort in Savelletri, Italy, on Thursday, June 13, 2024. (Francesca Volpi/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday said he would love to have Russia return to the Group of Seven nations, saying it was a mistake for Moscow to be expelled.

Russia had been a member of the G7 club of industrialized democracies, then known as the G8, until Moscow was excluded following its annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region in 2014.

“I’d love to have them back. I think it was a mistake to throw them out. Look, it’s not a question of liking Russia or not liking Russia. It was the G8,” Trump said at the White House when he announced new U.S. reciprocal tariffs.

“I said, ‘What are you doing? You guys - all you’re talking about is Russia and they should be sitting at the table.’ I think Putin would love to be back.”

There was no immediate reaction to Trump’s comments from Canada, which is chair of the G7 this year.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal in Washington; additional reporting by David Ljunggren in Ottawa; writing by Susan Heavey and Ryan Jones; editing by Costas Pitas and Doina Chiacu)