Trump Can’t Change G7 Format: EU

The EU's chief diplomat warned President Donald Trump on Tuesday that he had no power to change the structure of the G7 summit, after the US leader said he wanted to include several other countries, including Russia.

Russia was excluded from the group of the world's leading industrial nations in 2014 after annexing Crimea from Ukraine, but Trump claims the current membership is out of date.

The leaders of the Group of Seven — United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan — were expected to meet by videoconference this month, but Trump said on Saturday that he plans to hold the in-person summit instead, probably in September.

Calling the current list of countries "very outdated," the US leader also stated that he planned to invite other countries, including Russia, to attend the conference.

But EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell said that Russia has not modified course since 2014 and should not be re-admitted.

“The prerogative of the G7 chair, in this case, the United States, is to issue guest invitations — guest invitations reflect the host’s priorities,” Borrell said.

“But changing membership, changing the format on a permanent basis, is not a prerogative of the G7 chair.”

Later the Indian government said that Trump had invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the G7 summit.

Trump and Modi spoke by phone on Tuesday and the US president “conveyed his desire to expand the ambit of the grouping beyond the existing membership, to include other important countries including India,” the Delhi government said in a statement.

Modi commended Trump "for his creative and far-sighted approach, acknowledging that such an extended forum will be compatible with the emerging realities of the post-COVID world," he added.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rejected the idea of inviting Russian President Vladimir Putin, citing his “continued disrespect and flaunting of international rules and norms”.

Source: AFP