President Donald Trump on Tuesday criticized the decision to remove Russia from the G8, suggesting it contributed to the ongoing war in Ukraine.
“The G7 used to be the G8,” Trump said at the G7 summit in Alberta. “Barack Obama and a person named Trudeau didn’t want to have Russia in,” he added, referring to former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. “That was a mistake.”
Trump argued that the war could have been avoided if Russia had remained in the group of major economies. “I think you wouldn’t have a war right now if you had Russia in,” he said. “And you wouldn’t have a war right now if Trump were president four years ago.”
Russia was expelled from the G8 in 2014 after its annexation of Crimea. Trump has repeatedly called for restoring Moscow’s place at the table.
