Donald Trump said Tuesday, August 20, that "(it) is much more sensible to have Russia" in the G7, which would amount to the reintegration in a G8 which she had been excluded in 2014.
"Many of the topics we are discussing have to do with Russia, I would see it coming back in the G8," the US president told reporters, adding that he "could quite support" a return to the G8 with Moscow if a proposal is made in this sense.
"As you know, for a long time it was the G8 (...) and President Obama no longer wanted Russia because they were smarter than him," he added.
G7 members - Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States - are expected to meet this weekend in Biarritz, in southwest France, for a summit ahead of schedule. high tension because of disagreements between Donald Trump and his allies on many topics: Iran, Syria or the Paris agreement on climate.
A reformation of the G8 under condition for Emmanuel Macron
Since the annexation of Crimea in 2014, Russia has been excluded from the G8, which has been transformed into G7.
Emmanuel Macron for his part estimated in June that "without clear and tangible progress on the Minsk process (to stop the fighting in eastern Ukraine), there can be a reformation of the G8".
Donald Trump has often been criticized in the United States, even in his own camp, for his indulgence towards Russia and Vladimir Putin.
The Republican billionaire's campaign team was suspected of colluding with Russia in the 2016 presidential election.
With AFP