Trump attends G7 after proposing Russia’s return
Host Canada, other members hope for progress
BAGOTVILLE, QUEBEC: President Donald Trump arrived in Canada on Friday with a defiant swagger for a day of meetings with the United States’ closest allies, vowing before he left that he will not capitulate on tariffs and taunting his counterparts with a surprise call to reinstate Russia in their Group of 7 nations.
Trump made the suggestion about Russia to reporters at the White House before leaving for the annual G-7 gathering, which already promised to be crackling with tension over trade, Iran and Trump’s sharp-edged approach to foreign policy.
In a series of tweets just before departing Washington, Trump railed against Canadian tariffs on US dairy products and promised to fight against “unfair Trade Deals” with other nations. The tweets added to the confrontation between Trump and the leaders of those nations, who have accused the president of imposing illegal and insulting tariffs on their steel and aluminium industries. The Russia suggestion promised to heighten the animosities further, creating yet another schism between Trump and the six leaders he was meeting, largely in private, in a resort village several hours outside of Quebec City. The other leaders — from Britain, Germany, France, Canada, Japan and Italy — may conclude the summit on Saturday with a forceful joint statement issued without Trump’s signature.
Russia joined the group in the 1990s after emerging from the wreckage of the Soviet Union, making it the G-8, but its armed intervention in neighbouring Ukraine in 2014 and seizure of the Crimean peninsula angered other major powers. The remaining members, led by President Barack Obama, expelled it in a sign of global resolve not to let international borders be redrawn by force.
The notion of readmitting Russia to the world’s most exclusive club reflected the unusually friendly approach that Trump has taken to Russia since becoming president. Trump offered no specific reasoning for why Russia should be let back in.
The Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, expressed indifference to the idea of Russia being readmitted to the G-7. “We are putting emphasis on different formats,” Peskov said.
Canada, the host of the two-day summit in La Malbaie, Quebec, and the nation that has borne much of the brunt of Trump’s trade fusillades in recent days, is holding out hope that progress can be made on less controversial issues.
EU president Donald Tusk warned that Trump’s attempt to overthrow or renegotiate international agreements constitutes a threat to the post-cold War order. “It is evident that the American president and the rest of the group continue to disagree on trade, climate change and the Iran nuclear deal. What worries me most...is that the rules-based international order is being challenged, quite surprisingly not by the usual suspects but by its main architect and guarantor, the US.”