Russia was excluded from the group of the world’s leading industrialized countries after its annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014.

The G7 will hold a summit in Quebec, Canada, on Friday and Saturday, and Trump believes Russia should also participate.

– Why are we having a meeting without Russia being in it? They should let Russia back in because we should have Russia at the table, Trump said during his White House press briefing on Friday before leaving for Canada.

– I was Russia’s worst nightmare, but that said, Russia should participate in the meeting, he added.

Support from Italy

Canada and Italy were the first to comment on Trump’s actions.

A spokesman for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, according to Reuters news agency, that the Canadian position has not changed: Russia is still not welcome.

However, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte agrees with Trump and believes that Russia should be allowed to rejoin the group.

The G7 is made up of the United States, Japan, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy. In 2014, everyone agreed to expel Russia.

Trump asks for forgiveness

At the White House press conference, Trump also commented on his own relationship with the law.

– I’m not above the law. I don’t want anybody to be above the law, Trump said, before adding: – Yes, I have an absolute right to pardon myself. But I’ll never have to do that because I’ve done nothing wrong. And everybody knows that.

Special counsel Robert Mueller and his team are still investigating whether the Trump campaign illegally collaborated with Russia to boost Trump’s chances of winning the election. Numerous accusations have been made, and several people close to the president are under scrutiny. But Trump has once again denied that anything wrong happened.

– This is all just an invented fantasy. It’s a witch hunt, he decided.

Earlier Friday, unnamed Russian sources said a possible summit meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin was planned.

(©NTB)