U.S. president: Russia should be readmitted
LA MALBAIE, Canada — President 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 the United States that he will not capitulate on tariffs and taunting his counterparts with a surprise call to reinstate Russia in their Group of 7 nations.
The president 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.
“Russia should be in this meeting. Why are we having a meeting without Russia being in the meeting?” Trump asked the reporters. “You know, whether you like it or not — and it may not be politically correct — but we have a world to run. And in the G-7, which used to be the G-8, they threw Russia out. They should let Russia come back in. Because we should have Russia at the negotiating table.”
Trump greeted Justin Trudeau, the prime minister of Canada, warmly at the official opening of the gathering at a resort on the banks of the St. Lawrence River. The friendly body language between the two men betrayed none of the animosity over trade during the previous 48 hours.
But the president’s 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 the resort several hours outside of Quebec City.
In a blunt retort to Trump, Theresa May, the British prime minister, told Sky News on Friday that Russia would have to change its behavior before she would support welcoming the country back into the diplomatic fold.
“The phrase I’ve used is engage but beware. Let’s remember why the G-8 became the G-7,” she said, a reference to Russia’s military actions in Ukraine that sparked its ouster from the group. “And before discussions could begin on any of this, we would have to ensure Russia is amending its ways and taking a different route.”
The Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, speaking with Russian journalists accompanying Putin on a trip to China, expressed indifference to the idea of Russia being readmitted to the G-7. “We are putting emphasis on different formats,” Peskov said.