The President of United States Donald Trump said on Saturday that he will delay the G7 summit scheduled to take place in June and invite other countries, including India and Russia to join the meeting.
“I don’t feel that as a G7 it properly represents what’s going on in the world. It’s a very outdated group of countries,” Trump told reporters on board Air Force One while travelling from Florida to Washington DC.
Trump would like to invite Russia, South Korea, Australia and India to join an expanded summit in the fall. It could happen in September, either before or after the UN General Assembly, he added.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday refused to accept US President Donald Trump’s invitation to attend an envisaged summit of the Group of Seven (G7) in the United States, according to media reports.
German government spokesman Steffen Seibert had told the Politico, “The federal chancellor thanks President Trump for his invitation to the G7 summit at the end of June in Washington”.
“As of today, considering the overall pandemic situation, she cannot agree to her personal participation, to a journey to Washington,” Seibert had said.
The US headed Leaders from the Group of Seven, had been scheduled to meet by video conference in late June after COVID-19 scuttled plans to gather in-person at Camp David, the US presidential retreat outside Washington.
Trump last week, however, indicated that he could hold the huge gathering after all, “primarily at the White House” but also potentially parts of it at Camp David.
The G7 major advanced countries — Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States — hold annual meetings to discuss international economic coordination and monetary issues.
The work is now more important as they struggle to repair coronavirus-inflicted damage.
Earlier this week, the White House said that the US leader believes there would be “no greater example of reopening” than holding a G7 summit in the United States near the end of June.