Trump stuns G7 summit with calls to readmit Russia
DONALD TRUMP yesterday threw the G7 summit into chaos by calling for Vladimir Putin to be re-admitted to the group and making a series of critical comments about other world leaders.
The US president said that while it may not be considered “politically correct”, Russia should be back at the table. “We have a world to run,” he said.
But Theresa May and other European leaders insisted that Russia should not be allowed back in, highlighting “malign” actions such as the Salisbury spy poisoning.
Mr Trump appeared to snub the Prime Minister at the summit, failing to meet her one-to-one. On Thursday, figures close to Mr Trump compared her to a “school mistress”. After arriving late, the president was expected to leave early to fly to his meeting with Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader.
At dinner last night Mrs May was seated between Mr Trump and Giuseppe Conte, the new Italian prime minister, who supported his calls for Russia to be readmitted.
The summit in Quebec, Canada, saw Mr Trump clash with European leaders over Russia, US tariffs on steel and the Iran nuclear deal before it had even formally begun.
Speaking on the White House lawn before heading north, Mr Trump
said: “Why are we having a meeting without them? Russia should be a part of it. You know, whether you like it or not, and it may not be politically correct, but we have a world to run.”
Mrs May closed ranks with the leaders of all European nations and Canada in condemning his comments. “I have always said we should engage with Russia,” she said. “but my phrase is ‘engage, but beware’.
“We have seen malign activity from Russia in a whole variety of ways, of course including on the streets of Salisbury. So we need to say, I think, before any such conversations can take place, Russia needs to change its approach.”
His comments overshadowed plans by Mrs May for a rapid response unit to “call out” acts of Russian aggression such as cyber-attacks and fake news. While dining next to him last night, the Prime Minister was expected to raise the issue of steel tariffs, which “risk making everyone poorer”, warning retaliation from the EU would appear to be increasingly “unavoidable”.
Earlier, Mr Trump accused Emmanuel Macron, the French president, of being “indignant” over tariffs, throwing their planned meeting into doubt.
Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, said Mr Trump was “playing into the hands” of those who want to undermine democracy.