Russia is open to dialogue after US President Donald Trump’s push to expand the G-7. President-in-Office spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in Moscow at the same time today that more details need to be known before the proposal to invite Russia, Australia, South Korea and India to the summit of the seven leading industrialized countries.
It is not clear whether it is an official proposal, said Peskow. Russia first wanted to learn more about what was on the agenda and what the format should look like. It is also open, among other things, in what capacity Russia should be invited and who is invited at all. But Russian President Vladimir Putin is in favor of talking about this issue.
At the same time, Peskow made it clear that there are other formats for discussing current international problems, such as the G-20 of the leading industrial nations and emerging countries. Moscow commentators said Russia would never join an anti-China faction in world politics that Trump might have planned.
Trump: „Composition completely out of date“
Trump had announced on Saturday that he would postpone the Washington summit scheduled for June to September or later and, on the occasion, expand the list of guests to include the heads of state and government of the four countries mentioned. The composition is completely out of date, Trump told reporters on the return flight from Cape Canaveral in Florida to Washington. He did not have the impression that the G-7 represented well what was going on in the world.
According to a spokeswoman for the US President, the topic of the summit will also be China. Tensions between the United States and the People’s Republic are increasing again. Trump accuses China of a cover-up tactic for the Corona virus outbreak. Trump also initiated the end of economic privileges for Hong Kong because China is pushing ahead with a controversial security law. According to critics, the Beijing leadership would use this to consolidate their access to the Special Administrative Zone.
Germany, which belongs to the G-7 along with the USA, Canada, Japan, Great Britain, France and Italy, reacted cautiously to Trump’s push to expand the group. „We are waiting for further information from the United States, who are hosts,“ said a government spokesman in Berlin yesterday. Australia welcomed the proposal. South Korea wants to consult with the United States.
