Trump: It's a mistake not to have Putin at G7

Telegraph

5 hours ago

Donald Trump said it was a mistake to have expelled Russia from the G8 group of leading nations.
The US president also floated the idea that China should be admitted to the exclusive club as he joined other world leaders in Canada for this year's G7 summit.
The Canadian organisers have gone out of their way to shape an agenda that will avoid Mr Trump's wrath.
But a sign of his unpredictable nature came almost immediately ahead of his first meeting on Monday morning.
'The G7 used to be the G8,' Mr Trump told his travelling press pool ahead of his meeting with Mark Carney, the Canadian prime minister.
'Barack Obama and a person named Trudeau didn't want to have Russia in, and 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. But it didn't work out that way.'
Russia was expelled in 2014 when Vladimir Putin annexed Crimea.
European and other officials want to use the summit to nudge Mr Trump to take a tougher line on Moscow and will be disheartened by those initial comments.
However, the US president did go on to say it would be a mistake to have Mr Putin at the summit in Kananaskis, situated in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies.
'I'm not saying he should at this point, because too much water's gone over the dam,' he said, as Mr Carney looked on.
Instead, he said he saw a potential role for China as the world's second biggest economy.
'Well, it's not a bad idea. I don't mind that. If somebody wants to suggest China coming in…' he said.
'But you want to have people that you can talk to. You know, they don't talk.'
With the session turning into a Trump press conference, Mr Carney stepped in.
'If you don't mind I'm going to exercise my role, if you will, as G7 chair,' he said, silencing a hubbub of shouted questions. 'Since we have a few more minutes with the president and his team, and then we actually have to start the meeting to address some of these big issues.'