US President Donald Trump has surprisingly announced that he wants to postpone the planned G7 summit until September. Chancellor Merkel only canceled her participation on Saturday.
After the cancellation of the German Chancellor Angela Merkel wants US president Donald Trump postpone the G7 summit in the USA to September and expand the meeting to include Russia.
He did not have the feeling that the “very outdated group” of the seven large industrialized countries correctly depicted what was happening in the world, Trump said on Saturday evening (local time), according to journalists traveling on the flight from Cape Canaveral to Washington. He wanted to invite Russia, South Korea, Australia and India to the meeting, which should preferably take place in September.
Merkel canceled personal participation on Saturday
A White House spokeswoman said it would bring traditional allies together to discuss how to deal with China. Trump accuses China of not preventing the spread of the corona virus. The “group of seven” includes the United States also Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy, Canada and Japan. Trump’s statements aboard Air Force One were spread by the so-called pool – journalists who accompany the president and then pass the information on to other media. Trump had followed the launch of a manned spacecraft to the International Space Station live in the US state of Florida.
Merkel had made it clear on Saturday that because of the Corona crisis would probably not travel to the US for a G7 summit. The Chancellor thanked Trump for his invitation. At the same time, a government spokesman made it clear: “As of today, given the overall pandemic situation, she cannot promise her personal participation, ie a trip to Washington.” Previously, Britain’s prime minister had Boris Johnson pronounced for a real G7 meeting next month.
Invitation from Russia should cause discussion
Trump’s pool-reported move to invite Russia should spark discussions within the G7. President’s Wladimir Putin ruled country was excluded after the 2014 Crimea annexation. At the last G7 summit in Biarritz in France last August, Trump failed with his proposal to reintroduce Russia into the group of important economic powers. Russia, unlike the other countries that Trump wants to invite, is not a traditional ally of the United States.
Trump had said in Biarritz that he believed that Russia’s re-entry into the ranks of major industrialized countries would be “beneficial” and “positive”. At the same time, he had not ruled out inviting Putin to the United States for the summit. Already at G7 summit in Canada in 2018, Trump hadn’t been able to assert himself with his move to resume Russia.
The meeting was originally scheduled for late June
Trump is hosting the G7 summit this year. The meeting of heads of state and government was originally scheduled for June 10-12 at the President’s country residence in Camp David. In March, the US government canceled the summit because of the corona pandemic and scheduled a video conference instead. Recently Trump had spoken out again to let the meeting take place. Most recently, spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany said the meeting should take place in Washington’s White House in late June.
McEnany had said Trump wanted the summit to meet “as America reopened.” Trump is pushing U.S. states to loosen safeguards to get the economy going again. The pandemic has hit the United States hard, with the country now numbering more than 100,000 dead. More than 40 million people have registered as unemployed. There are currently strict travel restrictions between the United States and Europe, which has raised additional questions about the feasibility of a summit.
According to the Pool report, Trump left the exact timing of the planned summit open. He said the meeting could take place before or after the UN General Assembly, which is due to start in mid-September. However, it could also be postponed until after the US presidential election in November – but he would rather have the meeting before the election.
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