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Trump says he will delay G7 summit and invite other countries
WASHINGTON, May 31, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – US President Donald Trump said Saturday
he will delay the G7 summit scheduled to take place in June and invite other
countries — including 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 It’s a very outdated group of countries,” Trump told reporters on Air
Force One.
He said he 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, Trump added.
Leaders from the Group of Seven, which the United States heads this year,
had been scheduled to meet by videoconference 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.
The work is now more important as they struggle to repair coronavirus-
inflicted damage.
BSS/AFP/MMA/0925HRS