Trump Proclaims There 'Wouldn't' Be a Ukraine War if Russia Was Still in G8 Despite Being Kicked Out for Annexing Crimea

At the G7 Summit in Canada, Donald Trump claimed that Russia's war in Ukraine "wouldn't have happened" if they had remained a member of the G8 and if he had been in office four years ago.

Russia was expelled from the G8, renamed the G7, in 2014 after its widely condemned annexation of Crimea, a Ukrainian territory. The move was intended as a unified rebuke by Western nations to Russia's violation of international law.

Since then, relations between Russia and the West have remained strained, culminating in Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Trump has repeatedly expressed admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin and previously argued for Russia's reinstatement into the G7, drawing criticism from U.S. allies and lawmakers.

During remarks at the summit, Trump blamed former President Barack Obama and former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for Russia's continued exclusion from the group, calling their decision a "mistake." He asserted that diplomatic engagement through the G8 would have prevented the war.

While reiterating that Russia's reentry may now be unrealistic, Trump floated a separate suggestion that China could be included in the G7 if leaders were open to it—despite longstanding economic and geopolitical rivalries.

Originally published on Latin Times