Previously, President Donald Trump announced the postponement of the in-person G7 summit to a later date. Along with plans to expand the G7 group, Trump reportedly invited Russia to join in the expanded summit.
The Guardian reports that following the postponement of the G7 summit to September, Trump has reportedly invited Russian leader Vladimir Putin to join in the expansion, according to the Kremlin. The two leaders spoke on the phone, discussing the pandemic, the prices of oil, and space cooperation. The postponement follows health and safety concerns as the meeting was to be done in person in Camp David, despite the coronavirus pandemic raging on in the United States with over 100,000 deaths. Several leaders of the G7 have expressed that they may not be able to commit to attending as some restrictions are still in place in their respective countries.
Trump previously expressed that he feels that the G7 group is “outdated” and hopes to invite more countries into what would then be called the G10 or G11. Trump also revealed that the summit would hopefully take place on the weekend either before or after the United Nations General Assembly. The proposal of the expansion, according to the White House, is to bring together several world leaders and discussing how to deal with China.
Russia was previously part of the G7 back in 1997, but in 2014 was removed following the annexation of Crimea. Other countries that Trump hopes to invite into the expansion include India, Australia, and South Korea.
However, both Canada and the United Kingdom have opposed the reinstatement of Russia into the group. The Daily Mail reports that UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will be vetoing Trump’s attempt to reinvite Russia back into the group. According to the spokesperson for Johnson, Russia has not shown any change in behavior since its removal in 2014.
Johnson’s spokesperson also stated that the rest of the G7 leaders must unanimously agree to Trump’s hope for expansion.
Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also opposed bringing Russia back into the group for the same reason. “Russia has yet to change the behavior that led to its expulsion in 2014, and therefore should not be allowed back into the G7,” said Trudeau via a news conference.