Trump's demands for Russia's readmission cause row The disagreement led to heated exchanges at a dinner on Saturday night inside the seaside resort’s 19th-century lighthouse. According to diplomatic sources, Trump argued strenuously that Vladimir Putin should be invited back, five years after Russia was ejected from the then G8 for its annexation of Crimea. Trump has been taking his counterparts by surprise with the vehemence of his views on the subject.
Of the other leaders around the table, only Giuseppe Conte, the outgoing Italian prime minister, offered Trump any support, according to this account. Shinzo Abe of Japan was neutral. The rest – the UK’s Boris Johnson, Germany’s Angela Merkel, Canada’s Justin Trudeau, the EU council president, Donald Tusk, and the French president, Emmanuel Macron – pushed back firmly against the suggestion. “On that point … it became a bit tense to say the least,” a European diplomat said. “Most of the other leaders insisted on this being a family, a club, a community of liberal democracies and for that reason they said you cannot allow President Putin – who does not represent that – back in.” Trump was visibly outraged at their refusal. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/aug/25/g7-trumps-demands-for-russias-readmission-causes-row-in-biarritz
When the White House resident was asked how his fellow world leaders, reacted to re-admitting Russia in their union, he continued his unsettling pattern of fabulism, that has characterized his weekend at the Biarritz. Trump says others support his call to add Russia back into the G7
“I think it’s a work in progress.We have a number of people that would like to see Russia back,”Trump said when asked if there was an update about adding the former member to the group. “I don’t know if we will make a decision one way or the other but we did have a discussion about Russia last night as to whether or not we want to invite them back,” he added.
“Maybe we will just leave it the way it is,” Trump said, explaining that there was no formal decision or plan to readmit Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The group once known as the G-8 included the U.S., Canada, the U.K., France, Italy, Germany, Japan and Russia — but was cut down to the G-7 in 2014 following Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea. The annexation of Crimea from Ukraine sparked international uproar and triggered a series of sanctions to be placed on Moscow. Shortly after the annexation, a war broke out in eastern Ukraine between government forces and Russian-backed separatists. Ahead of the G-7 summit, Trump told reporters at the White House that he would support a move to add Russia back to the group.
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/25/trump-says-others-support-his-call-to-add-russia-back-into-the-g7.html
Yes, it is true. There is a number of people supporting Russia’s return. And that number is one. So between the outgoing leader from Italy and you, that makes two. I am not a math prodigy by any stretch of the imagination, but two (more like 1.5 since he’s leaving), I believe is a smaller number than 5, which means a much larger number—a majority—do not support letting your friend back in the club. To review your weekend of losses and setbacks: Most of the leaders rejected your big goal of getting Vlad back in the club. Most of the leaders rejected your trade war and tariffs, including your new BFF, Boris Johnson. Nobody believes that the most frequent question you were asked is why does the U.S. media hate the U.S. Having failed in France, you can come back home to face sinking approval numbers and a sinking economy and stock market, of which you are the architect. |
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