By Amanabo Ocholi | Lagos, Nigeria
The Kremlin has dismissed the Group of Seven (G7) as insignificant and “rather useless,” echoing former U.S. President Donald Trump’s remarks that expelling Russia from the G8 in 2014 was a strategic mistake.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “We agree with President Trump: it was a big mistake then to exclude Russia from the G8 format.”
Trump, during the G7 summit in Canada, had suggested that had Russia remained in the G8, the 2022 invasion of Ukraine might have been avoided. He claimed, “Putin speaks to me. He doesn’t speak to anybody else … he’s not a happy person about it.”
Russia was removed from the G8 following its annexation of Crimea in 2014, a move condemned by Western powers. Since then, the group has returned to being the G7, comprising the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom.
Peskov argued that the G7’s relevance has diminished significantly in today’s global landscape. “Given the declining share of the G7 countries in the global economy, given all the trends that are observed in the G7 countries and, of course, against the background of, for example, such formats as the G20, the G7 looks dull and rather useless,” he stated.
By downplaying the G7’s global influence, Russia is clearly signalling that any resolutions or sanctions from the group concerning its actions in Ukraine will not be taken seriously in Moscow.
Trump’s sympathetic comments toward Russia and President Vladimir Putin continue to raise eyebrows globally, especially in the context of ongoing hostilities in Ukraine. His claim that Putin was “very insulted” by Russia’s ousting from the G8 underscores the diplomatic tensions that persist between Moscow and the West.
The post 🇷🇺 “The G7 Is Useless!” – Russia Explodes appeared first on The Bureau Newspaper.
