War in Ukraine would not have happened if Russia had not been expelled from G8. It was mistake, - Trump
U.S. President Donald Trump said that Russia's expulsion from the Group of Eight in 2014 was a "big mistake." If this had not happened, there would have been no war in Ukraine.
He said this during a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Carney, Censor.NET reports.
According to Trump, Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine could have been avoided if he had remained president of the United States four years ago.
"The G7 used to be the G8. Barack Obama and a man named Trudeau did not want Russia to be there. I would say that was a mistake, because there would be no war now if Russia had been there. And there would be no war now if Trump were president. Putin talks to me, and he doesn't want to talk to anyone else, because he was very offended when he was kicked out of the G8. Like me, like you, like anyone else would be offended," he said.
Trump reiterated that excluding Russia from the G8 was a "big mistake," and he was "very vocal" about it, even though he was not in politics at the time.
"But I think it has complicated the situation, because you spend so much time discussing Russia, and it is not at the table. You can have enemies at the table, and he (Putin) wasn't considered an enemy even then," Trump added, referring to the time when Russia was expelled from the Group of Eight.
At the same time, he admitted that Russia's return to the format is unlikely now because "a lot of time has passed," but inviting China is "not such a bad idea."
As a reminder, Russia was expelled from the Group of Eight in 2014 after the illegal annexation of Crimea and the outbreak of war in eastern Ukraine. Since then, the G8 has been functioning as the G7 without Russia's participation.
