President Trump said Friday before departing for the Group of Seven summit in Canada that Russia should be attending the three-day conference as well.
“Russia should be in this meeting, why are we having a meeting without Russia in the meeting?” Trump said. “I would recommend, and it’s up to them, but Russia should be in the meeting.”
Russia was removed from what used to be the G-8 summit in 2014 after its occupation of Crimea in Ukraine. The other nations involved with the summit condemned Russia’s move, hit them with sanctions, and kicked the nation out of the annual summit.
Trump said that although he is tough on Russia, he believes the country should be invited to the meeting so it could be represented “at the negotiating table.”
