On Friday, before he arrived late and left early at the G7 Summit in Charlevoix, Quebec, US President Donald Trump rankled the other G7 leaders by suggesting that Russia be readmitted to the G7. He claimed, “Russia should be in this meeting. Why are we having a meeting without Russia being in the meeting? And I would recommend, and it’s up to them, but Russia should be in the meeting, it should be a part of it.” He added, “they should let Russia come back in.” Trump appeared to be carrying water for Putin.
In March of 2014, the other leaders of the G7 voted to throw Russia out of what was then the G8 after it invaded and annexed Crimea. At the time of Russia’s G8 ouster, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that being kicked out of the G8 would not present a significant hardship. “G8 is an informal organization that does not give out any membership cards and, by its definition, cannot remove anyone,” he said during a news conference. “All the economic and financial questions are decided in G20, and G8 has the purpose of existence as the forum of dialogue between the leading Western countries and Russia.” Lavrov clearly preferred Russia’s membership in the G20 to its presence in the G8.
Trump’s comments were somewhat odd, considering that the United States has been a leading member of the G7 and before that, G8. By saying, “they should let Russia back in” — the key word being “they” and not “we,” — Trump distanced the United States from the other nations of the G7. Those nations are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the U.K. However, Trump’s language reflects his position that the United States doesn’t have much need for its allies, and that it is content to be a lonely isolationist nation. Many American citizens would take offense at, or at least express a different opinion, than that point of view.
The G7 began as the G6 in 1975, when the world’s leading industrialized nations met after the oil crisis took hold. Canada joined in 1976, making it the G7. Russia joined in 1998 as a response to political and economic reforms enacted during the Boris Yeltsin years, making the group the G8.
Reaction
Several prominent people reacted to Trump’s suggestion.
Rep. Eliot Engel, Democratic ranking member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, implied Trump’s suggestion fits into his pattern of being very close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“The United States helped establish and lead the G7 in pursuit of a peaceful and prosperous world,” Engel, D-N.Y., said in a statement. “While the other G7 democracies continue to uphold those values, President Trump has isolated the United States, weakened American influence, and alienated our closest allies. So it’s hardly a surprise he’s now looking to the leader he seems to admire most: Vladimir Putin.”
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., issued a harsh written statement opposing Trump’s Russia comments. McCain said Putin has only continued “assaulting democratic institutions all over the world” since the invasion of Crimea.
“The President has inexplicably shown our adversaries the deference and esteem that should be reserved for our closest allies,” McCain said in a written statement. “Those nations that share our values and have sacrificed alongside us for decades are being treated with contempt. This is the antithesis of so-called ‘principled realism’ and a sure path to diminishing America’s leadership in the world.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer joined in the criticism saying, “readmitting Russia to the G7 would reward Vladimir Putin for actions the U.S. and his allies have condemned, and would clearly be contrary to America’s interests.”
Arizona Republican Sen. Jeff Flake tweeted, “No, Russia should not be added to the G-7.”