“The G7 used to be the G8. Barack Obama and a person named Trudeau didn’t want to have Russia in,” Trump said, incorrectly attributing Russia’s ousting to current Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who was elected a year later. “I think you wouldn’t have a war right now if you had Russia in, and you wouldn’t have a war right now if Trump were president four years ago.”
Putin should be ‘at the table’
Trump suggested that having Russian President Vladimir Putin involved in global discussions could have prevented the current conflict in Ukraine.
“Putin speaks to me. He doesn’t speak to anybody else,” Trump said. “He doesn’t want to talk because he was very insulted when he got thrown out of the G8, as I would be, as you would be, as anybody would be.”
When asked whether China should be part of the G7 as well, Trump replied, “It’s not a bad idea. I don’t mind that if somebody wants to see just China coming in.”
Tensions with allies and Ukraine
Trump’s comments came just a day before his scheduled meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Zelensky is expected to push Trump to back stronger US sanctions already approved by the Senate in response to Russia’s refusal to agree to a 30-day ceasefire.
Ahead of the meeting, Zelensky said: “Russia spits in the face of everything the international community is trying to do to stop this war. This war could have ended long ago if the world had reacted to Russia in a principled way instead of falling for manipulation and lies.”
He also accused Putin of using geopolitical distractions, noting that Russia attacked Ukraine’s energy infrastructure right after Putin had offered to mediate in the Iran-Israel crisis.
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