Putin: Russia Has No Interest in Rejoining G7

Russian President Vladimir Putin has dismissed any possibility of Moscow returning to the Group of Seven (G7).

He disclosed this while speaking during an official visit to India on Thursday.

In an interview with India Today, cited by Russia’s TASS news agency, the president noted that the influence of the G7 on the world economy has been declining for years, suggesting that global dynamics have shifted.

The G7 brings together Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Russia was excluded from the group, which was the G8 with Russia in it after it annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014. That left the remaining members united in their values as Western democracies.

However, significant differences have emerged between the U.S. and the others since Donald Trump’s return to power as president in January.

Russia was initially admitted in 1998, not due to its economic strength but because of the country’s influential role on the global stage of politics.

The latest US-backed plan for an end to the war in Ukraine includes a proposal for Russia to be invited to return to the G7.

This suggestion has been criticised by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who said that he doesn’t believe members are ready for such a move.

Putin said the prospect was not discussed with US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who visited Moscow on Tuesday to talk about the latest efforts to end the fighting. 

dpa/NAN