Kremlin calls G-7 ‘useless', agrees with Trump that kicking out Russia was a mistake
Mr Trump said at a G-7 summit in Canada on June 16 that the G-8 had been wrong to kick out Russia in 2014 after it annexed Crimea from Ukraine. PHOTO: REUTERS
MOSCOW - The Kremlin said on June 17 that US President Donald Trump was right to assert that it had been a big mistake to expel Russia from the Group of Eight in 2014, but that the G-7 was no longer significant for Russia and looked 'rather useless' now.
Mr Trump said at a Group of Seven (G-7) summit in Canada on June 16 that the G-8 had been wrong to kick out Russia in 2014 after it annexed Crimea from Ukraine.
'This was a big mistake,' he said, adding he believed Russia would not have invaded Ukraine in 2022 had President Vladimir Putin not been ejected from the leaders' club. He said Mr Putin 'basically doesn't even speak to the people that threw him out, and I agree with him'.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: 'We agree with President Trump: it was a big mistake then to exclude Russia from the G-8 format.'
He said the G-7 had 'lost practical significance' for Russia, given the state of world affairs.
'Given the declining share of the G-7 countries in the global economy, given all the trends that are observed in the G-7 countries and, of course, against the background of, for example, such formats as the G-20, the G-7 looks dull and rather useless,' Mr Peskov said. REUTERS
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