German Foreign Minister rejects possibility of allowing Russia back into G7
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas rejected a proposal to allow Russia to rejoin the G7.
"The reason for Russia's expulsion was the annexation of Crimea and the intervention in eastern Ukraine," said Maas in an interview published in two German newspapers Rheinische Post and Bonner General-Anzeiger.
According to the minister, while there is no solution to the situation with Crimea and the Donbas, he sees "no chance" that Russia will join the G7.
The G7 includes the United States, Canada, Germany, Japan, France, the United Kingdom and Italy. Russia was expelled from the G8 in 2014 after the annexation of Ukraine's Crimea. In June 2018, the American President expressed his support for Russia's return to this international club, but the proposal did not resonate with other G7 members.
On May 31, Trump called the G7 format ineffective and announced his intention to invite Russia, India, South Korea and Australia to the summit. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke out against this. The EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, said that the United States, as the current chairman of the G7, has a number of prerogatives, but cannot change the composition of the format by inviting new countries.