Yesterday at 19:57
The Group of Seven Summit is currently unfolding in a resort town in Quebec, where major world leaders are discussing the international economy. Yesterday, US President Donald Trump suggested that Russia be readmitted to the group. Moscow was expelled following the illegal annexation of Crimea. Other G7 leaders have firmly rejected this idea.
“During the European coordination, the topic of Russia played an issue and we agree that a return by Russia to the G7 format can not happen as long as there isn’t any substantial progress in regard to the problems with Ukraine. That was the common view,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said.
“The G7 countries, the most prosperous Western industrialized democracies were inviting Russia to join the community of the world democracies. Russia, however, made clear that it had no interest in behaving according to the rules of western democracies. and it made that very clear with the invasion of Ukraine, the annexation of Crimea, the continued support for the war in eastern Ukraine, and continued attacks at our democracies, one of which was the recent attack in Salisbury. So Canada’s position is absolutely clear – that there are no grounds whatsoever for bringing Russia with its current behavior back into the G7,” Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland said.
Members of Trump’s own party have also criticized the idea of returning Russia to the G7. Senator John McCain stated that Russian President Vladimir Putin himself chose to make Russia unworthy of being a member of the group, when he invaded Ukraine and annexed Crimea.
“Every day, Russian-led separatist forces are killing Ukrainians in the Donbass. Every day, Putin’s forces are helping the Assad regime slaughter the Syrian people. And every day, through assassinations, cyber-attacks, and malign influence, Russia is assaulting democratic institutions all over the world,” McCain wrote.
