Trump’s Demands for Russia’s Readmission with G7

Donald Trump has rowed with his fellow G7 leaders over his demand that Russia be readmitted to the group, rejecting arguments that it should remain an association of liberal democracies, according to diplomats at the summit in Biarritz, Guardian reports. According to the newspaper, the leaders of other G-7 countries at the Biarritz summit did not support the proposal of the American president. The disagreement led to heated exchanges. According to this account Trump argued that on issues such as Iran, Syria and North Korea, it made sense to have Russia in the room. Shinzo Abe of Japan was neutral only Giuseppe Conte, the outgoing Italian prime minister, offered Trump any support. The rest – the UK’s Boris Johnson, Germany’s Angela Merkel, Canada’s Justin Trudeau, the EU council president, Donald Tusk, and the French president, Emmanuel Macron – pushed back firmly against the suggestion. No agreement reached A source in EU structures told RIA Novosti that the issue of a possible invitation to Russia to the G7 was discussed at dinner, but the G7 leaders in Biarritz did not reach an agreement on the return of Moscow. “I can confirm that this issue was indeed discussed yesterday during the dinner,” the source said, adding that no agreements were reached. France Presse, citing a diplomatic source, reported that the leaders of the G7 countries advocated enhancement of cooperation with Moscow. Trump’s arguments Trump previously spoke about Russia’s return to the G7. According to the American president, among the G7leaders there are supporters of the accession of Moscow. According to him, this issue was raised at a meeting of leaders on Saturday evening. At the same time, Trump refused to give the names of leaders who agree with him, referring to the fact that the discussion is still ongoing. At the same time, Trump admitted that, perhaps, “we just leave everything as it is.” At the same time, he did not rule out that Russian President Vladimir Putin would be invited to the next G7 Summit. As Trump noted, the return of Russia will be beneficial for resolving many global issues. Opponents Position German Chancellor Angela Merkel linked Russia’s return to G7 with the implementation of the Minsk Agreements on Ukraine. According to her, when discussing the topic of Russia and Ukraine ‘there were general and different assessments.” But all G7 member countries, as she noted, supported the position of Berlin, which expects progress in the Minsk process for Russia to join the international club. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, for his part, promised that London would oppose the restoration of Russia in the G8. A high-ranking source in the structures of the European Union, in turn, also indicated that the EU is opposed to Moscow’s return to the club “until the reasons leading to its exclusion from it” are eliminated. Kremlin commentary Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Kremlin would consider Russia’s invitation to the G7 Summit in the U.S., if it arrives. He recalled the words of the head of state about the possibility of resuming the G8 format. Putin said in this regard that Russia did not exclude such a prospect, but this is not “a goal in itself”. According to the Russian leader, Moscow considers useful any contacts with the G7 countries. ria.ru