Office of External Relations
May 31, 2020

 
The Washington Post
 
Trump postpones the annual Group of Seven meeting of world leaders until September at the earliest, wants to include Russia



German Chancellor Angela Merkel looks at President Trump during a photo session at the NATO summit at the Grove hotel in Watford, England, on Dec. 4, 2019. (Christian Hartmann/AFP/Getty Images)
 
By
Anne Gearan and 
May 30, 2020 at 9:31 p.m. EDT
President Trump said Saturday that he will postpone until at least September the annual Group of Seven meeting of world leaders, which he had wanted to hold in-person by the end of June at the White House as the administration tries to project a return to normalcy amid the coronavirus pandemic.
 
But German Chancellor Angela Merkel had declined Trump’s invitation to come to Washington for the meeting, citing concerns about the pandemic, which has killed more than 100,000 Americans and more than 365,000 worldwide.
 
Trump also said he plans to invite Russia, South Korea, Australia and India — all already part of the Group of 20, which was conceived as a larger and more inclusive gathering than the G-7, with its clubby reputation. [ What is the President’s fascination with Russia? Recognize reality! Russia is a rough state – it has invaded Ukraine and is using a variety of other forms of aggression against other neighbors and fermenting unrest and divisiveness across the world. It is under sanctions by the United States and other countries for is gross misdeeds why would anyone want to invite it to anything? Additional sanctions should be o imposed on a scheduled timetable until it withdraws from Crimea and Donbass, it shouldn’t be welcomed anywhere!!! RAM ]
 
The president informed reporters of his decision to delay the gathering until the fall aboard Air Force One as he returned from Cape Canaveral, Fla., where he had viewed the successful SpaceX shuttle launch.
 
 
“I don’t feel that as a G-7 it properly represents what’s going on in the world,” Trump said. “It’s a very outdated group of countries.” [ That maybe but including Russia would be ignoring the reality of Putin’s outrageous aggressions – and for that matter ignoring his failing and pathetic economy – and would provide him an embarrassing propaganda victory. RAM ]
 
 
Russia had been invited to attend the sessions for several years until 2014, when Moscow was disinvited over its invasion of Crimea. Trump has repeatedly said he wanted to include Russia again, which Merkel and others vigorously opposed. [ And, let us not forget the House of Representatives passed last December H. Res. 546 disapproving the Russian Federation’s inclusion in future Group of Seven summits until it respects the territorial integrity of its neighbors and adheres to the standards of democratic societies . It was not a partisan issue, the resolution passed the House 339-71. Perhaps the Senate needs to pass such a resolution to get the President’s attention! RAM ]
 
Since the other six members of the G-7 are opposed to Russia’s rejoining, it is not clear whether they would attend a meeting where Trump forced the issue. Trump said he has “roughly” broached the idea with leaders of Russia, South Korea, Australia and India.
Trump said this year’s G-7 could be held the weekend before or after the United Nations General Assembly, which is currently scheduled to begin Sept. 15. But he also indicated that the annual meeting could be held after the November election.
 
All the G-7 nations plus those Trump mused about adding would be represented at the U.N. gathering in September. The United States holds the rotating host position for the G-7 this year.
 
The G-20 is already scheduled to hold its annual meeting in November in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. That makes it unlikely that many leaders would commit to several group summits back to back this fall, which also features the U.S. presidential election.
 
Trump spoke with another G-7 leader, Emmanuel Macron of France, on Saturday, and the two presidents “discussed progress on convening the G7,” according to a statement from the White House.
 
Macron’s office later put out a statement saying that it is important for all G-7 leaders to attend the meeting while raising the possibility he might not go if Merkel was not there.
 
“For a face-to-face G7, everyone must be present,” the statement read, adding that “the presence of the Chancellor and the unity of Europeans is important.”
 
The Trump administration had announced in March that the annual gathering of large industrial economies would take place virtually, but switched it back to an in-person meeting earlier this month.
 
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had indicated he would attend, and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was expected to do so. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had not committed, citing health concerns.
 
“There are significant health preoccupations that we have around holding an in-person meeting,” Trudeau said Wednesday, during a news conference. “Would we then as leaders have to self-isolate when we return, which is right now the rule in Canada?”
 
Abe might also have had to self-isolate upon his return to Japan.
 
Italy’s participation was unclear.
 
Souad Mekhennet and Karen DeYoung contributed to this report.
 
[ I have inserted this Michael Rameriz cartoon because it is my view that a Putin presence at the G-7 meeting, especially one hosted by the United States, would be the equivalent of Putin kicking American foreign policy and values in full view of the entire world. RAM ]
 
The parenthetical comments above are Mr. McConnell’s and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation or the FOUN.
Bob McConnell
Coordinator, External Relations
U.S.-Ukraine Foundation’s Friends of Ukraine Network

Robert A. McConnell is a co-founder of the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation and Coordinator of External Relations for the Foundation’s Friends of Ukraine Network. He is Principal of R.A. McConnell and Associates. Previously, he has served as head of the Government Advocacy Practice at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Vice President – Washington for CBS, Inc, and Assistant Attorney General in the Department of Justice during the Reagan Administration. rmcconnell@usukraine.org
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