US President Donald Trump has claimed that excluding Russia from the Group of Eight in 2014 was a "big mistake" and that had it not happened, there would have been no war in Ukraine.

Source: Trump speaking to journalists on Monday 16 June after arriving at the G7 summit in Canada, as reported by European Pravda 

Details:Trump reminded those present that "the G7 used to be the G8". 

"Barack Obama and a person named Trudeau didn’t want to have Russia in. I would say that was a mistake because I think you wouldn't have a war right now if you had Russia in," he added.

Russia was expelled from the G8 on 18 March 2014, a month after it invaded Ukraine and two days after it illegally annexed Crimea in violation of international law.

The US president went on to say that Russia's exclusion from the G8 was a "big mistake" and that he had been "very loud" about it, even though he was not in politics at the time.

"You spend so much time talking about Russia, and he [Putin – ed.] is no longer at the table. So it makes life more complicated. But you wouldn't have had the war," Trump said.

In response to another question about Russia, Trump stated that "you have your enemy at the table, and he [Putin] wasn’t even really an enemy at that time," referring to the time Russia was removed from the G8.

Trump admitted, however, that Russia is unlikely to be invited back now because "too much water's gone over the dam", but added that inviting China is "not a bad idea".

Background:

• Trump proposed bringing Russia back into the Group of Eight during his first term in office, and he has continued to do so since the start of his second term.
• On Monday 16 June, Trump arrived at his first G7 summit since his return to the White House.

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