President Trump told Fox News’ Bret Baier that he wants to have Russia readmitted to the G-7 in order to hold the country accountable for actions that led to its expulsion from the international group of states in the first place.
In an interview that aired Wednesday evening, Trump pointed to Russia’s exit from the then-G-8, which occurred five years ago.
[Also read: Trump says Russia should be invited to G-7 summit]
“We spend probably 25 percent of our time talking about Russia,” he stated. “I said to myself, wouldn’t it be better if they were here? I’m not for Russia, I’m for the United States, but as an example example, if Vladimir Putin were sitting next to me today instead of one of the others, and we were having dinner the other night in Canada, I could say, ‘would you do me a favor? Would you get out of Syria? Would you do me a favor, would you get out of the Ukraine.'”
“I think I would probably have a good relationship with him or I’d be able to talk to him better than if you call somebody on the telephone,” Trump continued. “It’s better off as a G-8 rather than a G-7, and a lot of people agree with me.”
“If he were at that meeting, I could ask him to do things that are good for the world, that are good for our country, that are good for him.”
