MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Kremlin said on Friday that the Group of Seven nations no longer united the world’s fastest growing economies and had therefore lost much of its relevance after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would love to have Russia return to the group.
“I’d love to have them back. I think it was a mistake to throw them out. Look, it’s not a question of liking Russia or not liking Russia. It was the G8,” Trump said on Thursday.
Russia had been a member of the G7 club of industrialized democracies, then known as the G8, until Moscow was excluded following its annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region in 2014.
When asked about Trump’s comments, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a conference call:
“We have repeatedly said that the group which is now called the G7 has lost much of its relevance. It brings together countries that are not now leaders in terms of growth, when it comes to various parameters,” said Peskov.
“Centres of growth have moved to other regions of the globe. We are much more interested in continuing our constructive work within the framework of the G20. A forum like the G20 is probably more reflective of the globe’s economic ‘locomotive’.”
(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
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