Russia should not be allowed to rejoin G7, Downing Street insists
DOWNING STREET has stressed that Russia must not be permitted to rejoin the G7 after Donald Trump said he may invite Vladimir Putin, inset, to attend a summit.
The US president delayed the summit scheduled for next month until the autumn due to the Covid-19 pandemic and said he wanted to expand attendance to discuss the future of China.
He said he plans to invite Russia, Australia, South Korea and India as he advocated for the group’s expansion, criticising the current makeup as “very outdated” and not representing “what’s going on in the world”.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said No 10 remained
“in close contact” with the US about Boris Johnson’s attendance. He wants to attend in person.
The spokesman stressed that Russia was removed from the G7 in 2014 because of its annexation of Crimea “and we’re yet to see evidence of its changed behaviour that would justify its readmittance”.
But he acknowledged that it would be up to the White House, which holds the group’s presidency, to invite Russia’s president to the summit as a non-member.
“We will look at the detail of what the US is proposing. It’s customary for the country that holds the G7 presidency to invite other leaders to participate as guests in the summit,” the spokesman said.
“Russia should not be readmitted to the G7 unless it ceases the aggressive and destabilising activity that threatens the safety of UK citizens and the collective security of our allies.”
Mr Johnson and Mr Trump have said the meeting of the leaders of the G7 group of major industrialised nations should be held in person if possible.
The gathering, which was due to take place in the US in coming weeks, is the annual meeting of prominent Western leaders.
Following a phone call between Mr Johnson and the US President on Friday, a Downing Street spokesperson said: “On the upcoming G7 Summit, the Prime Minister and President discussed the importance of leaders meeting in the US in person if possible.”
The two world leaders also discussed developments in Hong Kong.