Vladimir Putin Says He’s Ready To Rejoin The G7

On Friday, President Donald Trump suggested that Russia should rejoin the G7 — the group of the seven largest advanced economies in the world.

On a news conference at the G7 summit Trump said, “I think it would be an asset to have Russia back in. I think it would be good for Russia, it would be good for the United States and I think it would be good for all the countries of the current G7.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters this week he welcomed Trump’s call for allowing his country back into the Group of Seven. Putin also suggested hosting the organization next summit in Moscow. He told reporters, “We did not [choose to] leave it, our colleagues refused to come to Russia due to known reasons at some point. Please, we will be glad to see everyone here in Moscow.”

Russia was suspended from the G8 in March 2014 a week after Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. In a statement at the time the countries, which include the U.S., France, Canada, Germany, Italy, the U.K. and Japan, condemned Russia’s actions as “illegal” and in “contravention of international law.”

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Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats told reporters on Friday, that aside from the dispute over Russia annexing the Crimea from Ukraine, the Kremlin’s standing within the international community has been eroded by its meddling in elections in other countries. These include the U.S., France, Germany, Norway, Spain and Ukraine.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he told Trump that readmitting Russia “is not something that we are even remotely looking at at this time.”

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and another frequent critic of the president on foreign policy, also tweeted, “No, Russia should not be added to the G-7.”

No, Russia should not be added to the G-7.

— Jeff Flake (@JeffFlake) June 8, 2018

In terms of a Putin-Trump summit, Putin told reporters, “The U.S. president has repeatedly said that it’s reasonable to hold such a meeting. As soon as the U.S. side is ready, the meeting will take place, depending, of course, on my working schedule.”