“The G7 has always been a place for frank conversations with allies,” said Justin Trudeau. (File)
OTTAWA:
Canada does not support the return of Russia to the Group of Seven, proposed by US President Donald Trump this weekend, because Moscow continues to flout international law, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Monday.
“Russia has been excluded from the G7 after invading Crimea several years ago, and its disrespect and display of international rules and standards is why it remains and will continue to be outside the G7 “said Trudeau at his daily press conference.
Trump said on Saturday that he would postpone a Group of Seven summit he hopes to hold next month until at least September and expand the guest list to include Australia, Russia, and South Korea. India.
Trump said on Saturday that the G7, which brings together the most advanced economies in the world, is a “group of countries very outdated” in its current form.
When asked if he would attend the G7 if Russian President Vladimir Putin came, Trudeau did not respond, saying that there were “many discussions” before the meeting.
But he said that the G20 group, which includes Russia, was a forum that included countries “with which we do not necessarily have good relations”.
“The G7 has always been a place for frank conversations with allies and friends who share so much. It is certainly what I hope to continue to see,” said Trudeau.
Trump spoke to Putin on Monday and informed him of his plans to hold an enlarged G7 meeting later this year, the Kremlin said on Monday.
Russia was expelled from what was then the G8 in 2014 when Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama, was president, after Moscow annexed the Crimea region to Ukraine. Russia still holds the land, and various G7 governments have rejected Trump’s previous calls to readmit Moscow.
(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
